The Run.Revalidate menu item (keyboard shortcut Alt+V) "revalidates" a data file by conducting a simulated "save" to the disk and subsequent "reload" to test the file's validity.

The functionality is essentially identical to the BAR::Revalidate interfacial function.  A true value (or PASSED state) indicates that the file, if saved and reloaded, would deserialize successfully.  A false value (or FAILED state) indicates that the file would have problems in either saving or reloading.  BARfly reports the result of revalidation in the log.

It is a good idea to use Run.Revalidate to test a file you have edited to ensure that it would reload correctly if saved.  You can also optionally make this action an automated part of the saving process.

The Run.Revalidate menu item can help ensure validity, but it does not ensure consistency.  The only foolproof way to ensure consistency in how the data are represented in BARfly is to save in USS, UTD, or XML formats.  Saving in a file's native binary format will subject the file to the deserialization procedure, which may or may not be designed to return consistent results with what was saved.

Learn more about BAR::Revalidate.

  See also: [Compiling BAR implementation files] [Running BAR I.F. functions] [Running BAR I.F. functions]