# Does order of prototypes in the Module Editor matter ?.

**URL:** <https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [April 15, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910 "2021-04-15T12:14:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jackyjoy123](https://forum.vassalengine.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@jackyjoy123](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/jackyjoy123)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:14pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910/1 "2021-04-15T12:14:01Z")

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Hello,

I know the order of traits for a piece matters, that a prototype has to come before functions that use that prototype, for example. But does the order of prototypes in the Module Editor matter? If Prototype B uses Prototype A as one of its traits, does Prototype A have to be listed in the Editor before Prototype B? Or will it work just as well regardless of the order the prototypes are listed in the editor?

I’ve got a lot of prototypes in a module, and I’m thinking about putting them in alphabetical order just so I can find them easier as I need to work on them in the future. But I don’t want to mess up any dependencies by doing so.

thanks  
jackyjoy

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**Author:** ![Brent\_Easton](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/brent_easton/32/10_2.png) [@Brent\_Easton](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/Brent_Easton)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910/2 "2021-04-16T01:19:42Z")

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No, Prototype order makes no difference at all. Feel free to re-arrange them as required. Some designers create dummy protoypes with names to make Dividers and Headers to break them up and make them easier to find. Prototypes that are never used have no affect at all on a module.

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**Author:** ![jrwatts](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/jrwatts/32/6972_2.png) [@jrwatts](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/jrwatts)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910/3 "2021-04-16T03:55:11Z")

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Correct me if I’m wrong, Brent, but wouldn’t prototype order matter if, for example, a Restrict Commands trait in Prototype A needs to affect a trait in Prototype B? Not that that sounds like a good design…

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**Author:** ![Brent\_Easton](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/brent_easton/32/10_2.png) [@Brent\_Easton](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/Brent_Easton)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 4:14am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910/4 "2021-04-16T04:14:37Z")

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The order that you include prototypes in a trait matters, based on the standard rules of ordering of the traits generated by those prototypes.

The order which you have the prototypes recorded in the module (which I understood the original question to be) does not matter.

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**Author:** ![jrwatts](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/jrwatts/32/6972_2.png) [@jrwatts](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/jrwatts)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 4:25am UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/does-order-of-prototypes-in-the-module-editor-matter/11910/5 "2021-04-16T04:25:32Z")

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Oh right, I completely misread the original question. Oops! Nothing to see here, move along, move along…