File Naming Protocols

Here’s the quick reminder of naming protocols: [initials] _ [date] _ [course] _ [description] _ [version] . [extension]

Example: CAM_2018-08-16_Arch166_plan_v2.dwg

Read on for details about why…

If you study architecture you will accrue a substantial quantity of work. Within the AAS in Architecture degree, there are twelve studio and lab courses that each require some form of a portfolio. At the end of the program, you may have hundreds of files of various types.

In your final semester you will take a portfolio development class where you produce documents that summarize your studies.

If you are well-organized and have been diligent in documenting and archiving work, the assembly of the capstone portfolio may be relatively simple. Conversely, if you are not well-organized and have not been diligent in preparations, the assembly of the portfolio can be time-consuming and the final product may be incomplete.

Well organized documents are named and arranged logically. The process of archiving in this manner can be tedious and time consuming, but there are many long-term benefits including:

Time savings at a later time
Ready access to documents
The prevention of lost work and effort

These are some examples of weak File Names:

untitled-1.txt
Photo.jpg
Drawing.dwg
Index-copy.html
project-details.doc
Revised-file.pdf
Resume.doc
Plan.dwg
Johnsfile.psd
File.txt
Final.file.doc
Final final file.doc
Classwork.txt
Assignment1.pdf
Paper1.doc

The names above are weak because they don’t provide enough information about the contents of a file.

Developing a System of Naming

The appropriate naming system depends on the subject or Discipline. For architecture students one or more of the following might be considered.

Name or initials
Significant date
Course prefix and number
Description
Version
Extension

Including the content listed above enables you to know more about the contents of a file.

This is one way of formatting the name: [initials] _ [date] _ [course] _ [description] _ [version] . [extension]

Example: CAM_2018-08-16_Arch166_plan_v2.dwg

Date

A date may not necessarily be the date of the upload or capture. It could, for example, be the submission date or date that the work was created.

“A good format for dates is YYYYMMDD (or YYMMDD). This makes sure all your files stay in chronological order, even over many years.” (Stanford Libraries)

For this to be effective, the date needs to be first, or must follow the same set of characters like the author’s initials as shown below.

CAM_20181216_Arch123_plan_v2.dwg
CAM_181216_Arch123_plan_v2.dwg
CAM_2018-08-16_Arch123_plan_v2.dwg

Brief Subject Description

Some examples for architecture include: plan, section, model, rendering, interior view, perspective, site study, project name

CAM_2018-08-16_Arch123_plan_v2.dwg
CAM_2018-08-16_Arch123_SiteStudy_v2.dwg
CAM_2018-08-16_Arch123_HotelProject_v2.dwg

File Extensions

File extension are the characters that follow the period at the end of the file name and that identify the application used to create the file or that is required to open the file.

Extensions common to Architecture: pdf, doc, xls, dwg, dxf, ai, psd, stl, rvt, bak, dxf, jpg, png, gif, indd

Chronological Ordering

If files need to be chronological, avoid

1,2, 3, 4, …..10, 11 because they will stack like this:

1_document.doc

10_document.doc

11_document.doc, 2_document.doc

3_document.doc

Etc.

Instead add zeros before the numbers like this:

001_document.doc

002_document.doc

003_document.doc

010_document.doc

011_document.doc

etc.

Use of Special Characters in a File Name

Avoid special characters like ! # $ ( { ?. Why? Some applications will reject them.

File names should have no spaces. Instead use underscores, hyphens or no separations. Camel case where the first letter is capitalized can help to discern between words as with HotelProject.doc.

Metadata

A set of data that describes and gives information about other data. “metadata." OxfordDictionaries.com. Web. 23 July 2018.

If you have more text-based information that you’d like to attach to a file, you can add tags and other metadata. If you click on an image when you are in Windows Explorer, you can view metadata about the file as shown below. Some items can be edited. “Blue Floor” was added as a tag to the image below.

You can search for an image using the metadata attached to the image.

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