The Save As dialog box lets you save a copy of a design for future use. GIS designs can be saved as offline and template designs. When you perform this operation, you must give the new design a unique name. The Save As dialog box opens with the Save As command on the File menu of the Design Assistant.

With the Save As command, you can preserve a copy of a design that will eventually be deleted from the database when the job is finished. Or you can save standard GIS designs as templates that you can use as starting points for similar jobs. Keep in mind that if you merely want to make a design portable between the office and the field, you should simply change its Format property (see Changing the Format of a Design).

The Save As command makes a copy of the active design, but keeps the source design active, unlike the Save As command in some software applications. When you make changes to the design and use the Save As command, these changes will be applied to both the active design and the copied design. For example, if you alter Design 1 and then save it as Design 2, the Design Assistant saves Design 1 and makes a copy (Design 2). Thus, any use of the Save As command will save the active design in its existing state as well as the new design.