To enable code sharing, you must first generate the archival code for the application. Archival code is Smalltalk code that reconstructs a part's definition instead of reading the part from the persistent object file. Once generated, the code can be filed out of your VA Smalltalk development environment and subsequently filed in to someone else's VA Smalltalk development environment.

In order to capture all of your application code, you must generate archival code for each visual part, nonvisual part, and database access set in your application. You don't need to generate code for Smalltalk classes, including the two classes that VA Smalltalk makes for you when you create a new part.

Let's walk through the steps:

First, create a new VA Smalltalk application to hold the archival code, such as NewAppArchive. Change its prerequisites to include AbtAppBldrSmalltalkEditorApp, plus the application for which you are generating code. Next, generate the code:

To generate archival code for only a few parts or database access sets, select the parts or access sets and then select Generate > Archival Code from the Parts menu.

Any problems encountered when you generate archival code are written to the System Transcript window. You should resolve any errors before you try to file the code into another image.