File Naming Conventions References
For some examples of file naming policies used in various industries and institutions please refer the list below.
The purpose of file naming conventions
Effective file naming is the cornerstone for building a successful paperless office. It is also essential for effective collaboration between individuals working on common business activities. The names you assign to your electronic documents constitute the foundation for the proper management of your documents. A document that is given a well structured name based on a file naming convention is easy to search for, identify and retrieve. However, the key to successfully executing this strategy is that everyone adheres to file naming policy set in place. This insures consistency, precision and reliability and contributes to efficiency and increased productivity especially in collaborative work environments where file sharing takes place.
Templates for semi-automated file naming
We are providing this list as a reference only and do not endorse any specific file naming standard described because this can be unique to each organization or department. Our eXadox semi-automated file naming software (visit: eXadox DT or eXadox MSO) comes with templates that are similar to the conventions that are documented. These templates can be modified or new ones may be created by the user to satisfy specific requirements.
Possible naming conventions
The following is a compilation of reference articles and specifications that describe the file naming recommended or used in various industries, institutions and government offices. They all have their own merit but may not be the most suitable for your unique working environment. You may use anyone or combination of them to establish your own filing policy. To help you establish your structure and to get some info on how eXadox structured file naming works, please request a free copy of the eXadox template building worksheet containing multiple samples. If you wish to institute one of the file naming methods described in the list below and have questions, please communicate with us using the Request Form. You may also contact us directly.
Reference List
Used For
General
Media Studies
Insurance
General / Images
Email Attachments
General / Images
Documents / Folders
Documents / Folders
General
Records Management
Project Files
Business Documents
Documents / Folders
General
Office Documents
Medical Transaction File
Archives
Scanned Images
Semi-Automated Naming
General
Title
File-Folder Naming Conventions - 10 Rules
| General |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vincent Santaguida |
1: Avoid extra long folder names and complex hierarchical structures but use information-rich filenames instead.
2: Put sufficient elements in the structure for easy retrieval and identification but do not overdo it.
3: Use the underscore (_) as element delimiter. Do not use spaces or other characters such as: ! # $ % @ ^ ` ~ + ; =
...
|
File Naming and Organization
| Media Studies |
| University of Western Ontario |
| Click to read |
| Tim Craven |
| File names should be concise for a variety of reasons:
- shorter names are easier to type;
- links to files with short names take up less space in HTML code, making the pages somewhat shorter and so somewhat faster to download;
- shorter names tend to be easier to remember;
- shorter names will not appear truncated in directory displays such as that in Windows Explorer, avoiding the need to adjust column widths or examine file properties more closely;
- shorter names are easier to read and easier to distinguish from other, similar names;
- longer file and directory names can combine to form excessively long path names which software cannot handle.
|
Decoding the Financial Statement PDF FileNaming Conventions
| Insurance |
| National Association of Insurance Comissioners (NAIC) |
| Click to read |
| NAIC |
| The file naming convention and terminology are designed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). 1) The file name can very in length but will have a suffix extension of ".PDF". 2) The file name to the left of the ".PDF" extension consists of the following fields, which are delimited by an underscore ("_") character. The letters are not case-sensitive. 3) The general form of the file name is ccccc_vc_s_yyyy_f_d_vv_sa_ss_fb_p.PDF |
Recommendations for Limitations on Image Filenaming
| General / Images |
| Controlled Vocabulary |
| Click to read |
| David Riecks |
| To reinterate from the filenaming page, the most important thing that a filename can do for your image collection is to provide a form of unique identification ( or [UID] ) for each digital "asset." However if you wish to be able to exchange your image files with clients or colleagues (often using different computer operating systems, then you need to observe some standards for cross-platform compatibility to ensure maximum portability. Here are some recommendations to avoid potential problems.
File and Directory Naming Recommendations
1. When creating file and folder (directory) names limit your filenames to the characters A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore ( _ ), period ( . ), and hyphen ( - ). |
Managing Emailed Documents Using Structured File Naming
| Email Attachments |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vince Santaguida |
| Electronic document exchange through email
attachments is providing business a forward thrust
towards the adoption of paperless office practices. A
significant downside is that this benefit comes with the
burden of having to manage numerous emails and more
importantly, to properly file the attached documents.
Most organizations have instituted best-practices for
managing paper documents; however, a free-for-all
approach still prevails for emailed documents.
Electronic documents demand a well-structured filing
process just as their paper counterpart. This is especially
critical in collaborative work settings where documents
are shared resources. This article presents how a
structured file naming and storage strategy can be
exploited to efficiently file email attachments. Users
may employ this strategy as a manual process or they
may take advantage of eXadox for viewing attachments
and semi-automating the filing process. |
Filenames as a Strategy to Managing Your Image Assets
| General / Images |
| Controlled Vocabulary |
| Click to read |
| David Riecks |
| Filenames as a Strategy to Managing Your Image Assets
The most important thing that a filename can do for your image collection is to provide a form of unique identification ( or [UID] ) for each digital "asset." Having a system that ensure that each filename is unique is most important. Of primary importance is the fact that you can not store two files with the exact same name in the same location (folder/directory) of a hard drive, CD-ROM, or other storage media--without possibly overwriting the other file! Think of the danger that exists if you pull a number of digital image files from various locations to provide to a client, and one file accidentally over-writes another because they are now in the same location. This could also be most confusing, if a client orders an image file by number and you deliver, not the file he is not expecting, but another with the same filename! |
Naming Conventions for Electronic Files and Folders
| Documents / Folders |
| University of York |
| Click to read |
| York University |
| NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR ELECTRONIC FILES AND FOLDERS
File and folder naming conventions are key to maintaining well-organized electronic directory and drive structures. This tip sheet provides examples of naming conventions; each unit may determine its own file naming procedure as long as it is applied consistently. Benefits of consistent file and folder naming are:
•Files are easily distinguished one from another
•File names are easier to browse
•Retrieval is facilitated for all users (not just the file’s creator |
Semi-Automated Structured FileNaming and Storage White Paper
| Documents / Folders |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vince Santaguida |
| As we increasingly adopt paperless-office practices, it becomes readily apparent that the quantity and types of documents that need to be accessed and managed daily are ever increasing. In addition to Microsoft Office documents, we need to cope with the cornucopia of e-mails, scanned images, graphics, photographs, drawings, PDFs etc… The task can be especially challenging when working with shared files that originate from various sources that were created by “someone”, named “somehow” and stored “somewhere”. |
File-Folder Naming Conventions - How to Organize
| General |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vincent Santaguida |
1: Use short and simple folder names and folder structures and focus on using information-rich filenames.
2: Put just the right amount of elements in the structure for easy retrieval and identification.
3: Use the underscore (_) as element delimiter. Do not use spaces or other characters such as: ! # $ % @ ^ ` ~ + ; =
...
|
Naming Conventions for Electronic Documents
| Records Management |
| Government of Alberta |
| Click to read |
| Government of Alberta 2005 |
Implementing good document names can support the following objectives:
• Facilitate better access to and retrieval of electronic documents.
• Allow sorting of documents in logical sequence (e.g. version #, date).
• Help users to identify the items they are looking for easily and support the ability to recognize the content of a document from a list.
• Help keep track of versions of documents.
|
Document Naming Convention
| Project Files |
| OnProjects |
| Click to read |
| Duardo |
| Day-to-day project staff are constantly sharing documents via email and portable storage devices as a result it can be easy to loose track of which version is which.Putting the key document information in the title has several benefits, (1) it will assist your project team members to quickly identify the project, department/function, document title and version/revision number without having to open the document and scan for updates and (2) this information will assist in the development, management, security, storage/retrieval and the eventual deliberate destruction of the document.
|
Simple and Affordable Paperless Office Initiative
| Business Documents |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vince Santaguida |
| A low cost effective alternative
Document indexing can be accomplished in several
ways. Most conventional document management
systems commonly require manual entry of metadata or
keywords for each document. An innovative and simpler
approach is to use structured file naming as a basis of
document indexing. The concept involves structuring
the filename into descriptive segments that provide all
the information necessary to search, retrieve and
identify the targeted document. For more info visit
www.exadox.com or refer to: eXadox White Paper:
Semi-Automated Structured File Naming and Storage. |
Standard Naming Conventions For Electronic Records: The Rules
| Documents / Folders |
| University of Edinburgh |
| Click to read |
| Anne Thompson |
| Standard Naming Conventions For Electronic Records: The Rules
The conventions comprise the following 13 rules. Follow the links for examples and explanations of the rules.
1. Keep file names short, but meaningful.
2. Avoid unnecessary repetition and redundancy in file names and file paths.
3. Use capital letters to delimit words, not spaces or underscores.
4. When including a number in a file name always give it as a two-digit number, i.e. 01-99, unless it is a year or another number with more than two digits.
5. If using a date in the file name always state the date ‘back to front’, and use four digit years, two digit months and two digit days: YYYYMMDD or YYYYMM or YYYY or YYYY-YYYY.
6. When including a personal name in a file name give the family name first followed by the initials.
7. Avoid using common words such as ‘draft’ or ‘letter’ at the start of file names, unless doing so will make it easier to retrieve the record.
8. Order the elements in a file name in the most appropriate way to retrieve the record.
9. The file names of records relating to recurring events should include the date and a description of the event, except where the inclusion of any of either of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2.
10. The file names of correspondence should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence and whether it is incoming or outgoing correspondence, except where the inclusion of any of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2.
11. The file name of an email attachment should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence, ‘attch’, and an indication of the number of attachments sent with the covering email, except where the inclusion of any of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2.
12. The version number of a record should be indicated in its file name by the inclusion of ‘V’ followed by the version number and, where applicable, ‘Draft’.
13. Avoid using non-alphanumeric characters in file names.
|
File Naming Conventions
| General |
| University of Wales |
| Click to read |
|
| File Naming Conventions
1: Making file names short and clear
2: Avoiding repetition and redundancy in file names
3: How to delimit words
4: How to use numbers in file names
5: How to use dates
6: Using personal names in file names
7: Words to avoid using at the start of file names
8: How to order the elements of a file name
9: Recurring events - Including dates and descriptions
10: How to name correspondence records
11: Applying version numbers and draft status
|
Managing Documents via Structured File Naming
| Office Documents |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vince Santaguida |
| Migrating towards paperless-office practices invokes
the need to cope with larger amounts and varieties of
electronic documents. Acquiring a document
management system could help but there are significant
costs and complexities that may be too difficult to
justify. A more expedient approach is to adopt a
structured file naming policy to help manage your
documents affordably and effectively. Structured file
naming is a powerful yet under-exploited tool for
indexing documents. It is a very efficient means of
searching and retrieving documents. This article briefly
explains how to apply this concept. |
Recommendations for Filenaming Conventions
| Medical Transaction File |
| MN HIPAA Collaborative |
| Click to read |
|
| File names are commonly generated by the computer application that
creates the file. Sometimes the name is mutually agreed to by Trading
Partners, or defined by the receiving Trading Partner. If you have the
capability of controlling the name assigned to any specific transaction,
and there is no required file name with your Trading Partner, then we
recommend you consider the following file naming convention. |
Naming Conventions for Digital Resources
| Archives |
| Library of Congress |
| Click to read |
| Rebecca Guenther |
| Naming Conventions for Digital Resources
Library of Congress
This paper contains a general summary of developments concerning naming conventions for digital resources. It was originally written as a result of a request by the National Digital Library Federation Planning Task Force for a summary of initiatives related to naming conventions both at the Library of Congress and elsewhere. ......Naming documents are a crucial aspect of design, because it involves the syntax of a name by which a document is referenced. A name is a logical way of referring to an object in some abstract name space. .....
This document presents the rules for identifying data representing materials from LC's collections that are part of the LC digital archive. The emphasis is on unique identification rather than meaningful or expressive names. A fundamental assumption for those building this archive is that information concerning the archive's content will be made available through descriptions, finding aids, or other similar techniques. These descriptions will include directive devices [logical pointers?] to the digital texts, images, and sound materials they describe. |
Structured File Naming Strategy for Managing Scanned Images
| Scanned Images |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vince Santaguida |
| A structured file name consists of multiple segments
where each segment provides specific information
about the document. The quantity and type of
segments employed is dependant on the type of
documents and the business activity. |
Semi Automated Structured File Naming and Storage
| Semi-Automated Naming |
| MultiCIM Technologies Inc. |
| Click to read |
| Vince Santaguida |
| A structured file name consists of multiple segments
where each segment provides specific information
about the document. The quantity and type of
segments employed is dependant on the type of
documents and the business activity. |
Proper Naming Conventions
| General |
| University of Michigan-Flint |
| Click to read |
|
| The primary concern for any web developer should be accessibility. Is your site designed to be easily accessible to the wide variety of browsers that are currently available? One of the ways you can ensure that your site is user-friendly, is to ensure that all files follow naming rules. |
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