Save a state file

There are two possible formats for saving the state (recipe) of your paraview session: .pvsm, the paraview-native XML format, and .py – python executables that can be executed using pvbatch. The python export is not as stable as .pvsm, so it might be a good idea to first save your state to ``.pvsm`` and save an additional .py copy after this.

../../../_images/file-save-state.png

It has proved very useful to have older states at hand. Paraview has the feature of grouping files that end on a number, so _a _b _c naming has proved useful. Using a version control system is even better. :)