File naming | Tracking changes with version control
File Naming
Best Practices:
1. Be consistent.
- Have conventions for naming (1) Directory structure, (2) Folder names, (3) File names
- Always include the same information (eg. date and time)
- Use the international standard date format for easier sorting (eg. YYYYMMDD, not MMDDYYY )
2. Be descriptive so others can understand your meaning.
Try to keep file and folder names under 32 characters
Within reason, Include relevant information such as:
- Unique identifier (ie. Project Name or Grant # in folder name)
- Project or research data name
- Conditions (Lab instrument, Solvent, Temperature, etc.)
- Run of experiment (sequential)
- Date (in file properties too)
- Use application-specific codes in 3-letter file extension and lowercase: mov, tif, wrl
- When using sequential numbering, make sure to use leading zeros to allow for multi-digit versions. For example, a sequence of 1-10 should be numbered 01-10; a sequence of 1-100 should be numbered 001-010-100.
- No special characters: & , * % # ; * ( ) ! @$ ^ ~ ' { } [ ] ? < > -
- Use only one period and before the file extension (e.g. name_paper.doc
NOT name.paper.doc OR name_paper..doc)
example: Project_instrument_location_YYYYMMDD[hh][mm][ss][_extra].ext
File renaming Applications: If you have many files already named, consider using a file renaming application such as ReNamer (Mac/Windows)
Tracking Changes with Version Control
Keep track of versions of files (version control):
Manually: Use a sequential numbered system: v01, v02
OR:
Use version control software such as Git which can track revisions to files and help you roll back to a previous version of a file.
