# What is settings.js flowFilePretty supposed to do?

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [18 August 2021 22:09 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890 "2021-08-18T22:09:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jbudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f8ce5/32.png) [@jbudd](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/jbudd)\
**Post date:** [18 August 2021 22:09 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/1 "2021-08-18T22:09:41Z")

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My flows\_hostname.json file is just one very long line.

In settings.js it says:

> ```
> // To enabled pretty-printing of the flow within the flow file, set the following
> // property to true:
> // flowFilePretty: true,
> 
> ```

But if I uncomment the property and restart Node-red, nothing changes.

So what/how is it supposed to achieve?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [18 August 2021 22:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/2 "2021-08-18T22:12:23Z")

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I believe you will need to change something & deploy.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jbudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f8ce5/32.png) [@jbudd](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/jbudd)\
**Post date:** [18 August 2021 22:28 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/3 "2021-08-18T22:28:10Z")

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Oh! that was a surprise. Thanks.

```auto
pi@GlassPi:~/.node-red $ wc flows_GlassPi.json
     1 4240 168577 flows_GlassPi.json

```

I moved a node by one grid square and redeployed just that changed node.

```auto
pi@GlassPi:~/.node-red $ wc flows_GlassPi.json
 11328 23355 288580 flows_GlassPi.json

```

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**Author:** ![LosinIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@LosinIt](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/LosinIt)\
**Post date:** [19 August 2021 00:28 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/4 "2021-08-19T00:28:04Z")

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I'm curious what my flows will look like after employing this option and I'd like to try it. I suppose I can try it right after saving the current layout to version control and restore it if I don't like the change but is there screenshots somewhere of the before and after?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jbudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f8ce5/32.png) [@jbudd](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/jbudd)\
**Post date:** [19 August 2021 00:46 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/5 "2021-08-19T00:46:59Z")

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I don't know if commenting the option out will change things back, not tried that.

The difference is the same as when you export a flow JSON and select "compact" vs "formatted".

The documentation says the option "makes your flow file easier to read" but 11000+ lines is about as easy to read as War & Peace 😀

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![LosinIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@LosinIt](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/LosinIt)\
**Post date:** [19 August 2021 00:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/6 "2021-08-19T00:49:45Z")

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Oh! So it doesn't rearrange nodes on a worksheet? I thought that was it's purpose. I guess I didn't read carefully enough or not the right info.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [2 September 2021 00:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/what-is-settings-js-flowfilepretty-supposed-to-do/49890/7 "2021-09-02T00:49:52Z")

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