Using Documents
From macOS User Guide:
Own Your Data
Bike is a document based app that uses open file formats.
This combination gives you full ownership of your data. Your notes and thoughts aren't locked behind a proprietary web-service. They aren't hidden away in a database available for export only.
In Bike your data is fully within your control, stored in normal document files right on your computer. These files use open file formats. Even if you delete Bike from your computer you should still be able to view and edit your outlines.
Format Options
.bike: This is Bike's native format and the one I would recommend using. It supports all Bike features. It is also an HTML document – you can view Bike files in your web browser.
.opml: This is a standard format for saving outlines. Use .opml if you wish to edit your outline with Bike and another OPML compatible application.
.txt: Bike can also work with plain text files. The outline structure is determined by the leading tab indentation. Text files don't offer any good place to store metadata (such as item ids). For this reason some features (such as links to rows) will break when you close and then reopen a .txt based outline.
Open Options
When you open a document Bike can expand rows (or not) for you. To set which rows are expanded when you open a document use Settings > Document > When Open...
This setting is for when you open a document while Bike is running. When Bike re-opens a document when starting it will restore the exact row expand/collapse state. For more information on restoring documents see Using Windows.
File Extensions
When you save a Bike document the filename will default to a .bike, .opml, or .txt file extension. This is usually what you want.
If it's not what you want you have the option to use your own file extension. For example you may wish to save "Bike" files with a .html file extension, or you might want to save "Plain Text" documents with a .md file extension.
To use a custom file extension
Type the file extension after the file name in the "Save As" text field in the document save panel.
To load an outline that has a custom file extension
Open the file normally and Bike with detect the content format. When Bike loads an unknown file extension it performs these steps:
Read as Bike, if that fails then...
Read as OPML, if that fails then...
Read as Plain Text, which should never fail
These same steps are followed when reading text from the pasteboard.
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