Opening and Saving VEXcode V5 Projects on a Chrome Browser – VEX Library

A project can be opened and saved in web-based VEXcode V5 in a variety of ways.

Create a New Project

File menu in VEXcode open with the following options shown: New Blocks Project, New Text Project, Open, Open Examples, Save, Save As, What's New, About, and Check For Updates. The New Blocks Project and NEw Text Project options are highlighted with a red box.

A new project opens when VEXcode V5 is launched. But, a new project can also be opened from the File Menu.

Select New Blocks Project or New Text Project from the File Menu.

Pop up in VEXcode that reads 'Project was never saves. Save now?' with a button to Discard the project and a button to Save the project.

Note: when creating a new project, a prompt will appear asking to save if the current project has not already been saved. See the Saving Projects section of this article for details on how to save a project.

Open Projects

Open an Existing Project

Open File Menu in VEXcode V5 with the following options being shown from top to bottom: New Blocks Project, New Text Project, Open, Open Examples, Save, Save As, Whats New, About, Check for Update. The Open option has a red box around it.

Open an existing project by selecting Open from the File menu.

The Finder window on a macOS device being shown with the downloads folder open and a VEXcode V5 project with a red box around it.

Your device’s File Menu will open. Navigate to the folder where you saved your file and open the project.

Note: VEXcode V5 projects will have one of the following extensions: .v5blocks , .v5python, or .v5cpp.

Pop up in VEXcode asking users to allow changes to be automatically saved to the computer. Two options are shown: Cancel and Save Changes.

A prompt will appear in your browser. Select Save Changes to open the project and allow auto saving.

A VEXcode V5 project with the title Drive Project shown at the top. A When started block is in the workspace with a Drive for block attached.

Your project will then open.

Open an Example Project

Top left of the toolbar in VEXcode V5 with the following options being shown: Globe icon, File, Tools, Tutorials, Undo, Redo, Slot. The File option has a red box around it.

Select File in the Toolbar.

Select Open Examples in the drop down menu.

VEXcode V5 Example project icons being shown.

Select a Template or an Example Project. Once selected, the project will open in VEXcode V5.

Note: Templates and Example Projects are used for the following:

Templates configure the motors and sensors on your robot for the project.
Example projects are premade projects that are ready to download and run.

Saving Projects

You can save your project in VEXcode V5 in different ways:

Option 1: Selecting Save in the File menu.

VEXcode Toolbar with the following icons shown left to right: Controller, Brain (highlighted green), Download, Run, Stop, Share, and Feedback. The Download option is highlighted with a red box.

Option 2: Downloading a new project.

Center of the VEXcode Toolbar with the Slot, Project Name, and Save Status shown. The Project name box is highlighted with a red box.

Option 3: Naming a new project by selecting the project name window.

Save dialog window in VEXcode showing the project name field filled with New Project Name highlighted in red. The toolbar above displays VEXcode Project with the status Not Saved. Below the project name field, the message Autosave Capable Browser is displayed, along with options for Saving help, Cancel, and Save.

Type a new name into the text field and select Save.

Saving a Project

Project dialogue box on macOS shown with areas to choose the file name, download location, and tags.

Choose one of the ways above to save a new project, then a Save As dialog window will open.

Note: This image shows macOS. Follow the prompts on your device to choose the File name and save location.

Project dialogue box on macOS shown with areas to choose the file name, download location, and tags. A red box highlights the save option in the bottom right corner.

Then select Save.

Center of the VEXcode Toolbar with the Slot, Project Name, and Save Status shown. The Project name box is highlighted with a red box showing the updated name: Drive Project.

The updated project name will be visible in the project name window.

Center of the VEXcode Toolbar with the Slot, Project Name, and Save Status shown. The Project name box is highlighted with a red box showing the save status as Saved.

Once a project is saved, VEXcode V5 will automatically save all changes in a project.

VEXcode V5 Save prompt reads Your project was never saved. Save now? with two button options. To the left in red reads Discard, to the right in blue reads Save.

Note: Whenever there is an unsaved project, VEXcode V5 will prompt users to save their work if the user attempts to:

Close VEXcode V5
Create a new project
Open another project

Using 'Save As'

You can also use the Save As option from the File menu to make a copy of a project under a different name or in a different location.

Common Issue when Opening/Saving

Downloads folder with a VEXcode V5 project inside. A notification is in front of the folder explaning that there is no application for the file to be opened with.

A common issue when using VEXcode V5 project files (.v5blocks, .v5python, or .v5cpp) is trying to select the file to be opened directly by the operating system.

If you try to open a VEXcode V5 project file (.v5blocks, .v5python, or .v5cpp) by double clicking it, it will show an error message like this.

Be sure to open project files in VEXcode V5, as shown in the Open an Existing Project section of this article.