34 File Naming
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Lesson 5 of 17
Descriptive and consistent file names make it easier for you and others to locate your files, so it is important to develop and document conventions, and then be sure to use them. If something you plan does not work in practice, change it, and then update your documentation.
Tips for Your File-Naming Conventions
Different operating systems and software can handle characters in filenames in ways you do not expect, and sometimes do not recognize certain characters.
The following are good practices to follow:
- Put dates in ISO 8601 format1: YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD.
- Use periods only before file extensions, not in filenames (e.g., use fileName.pdf NOT file.name.pdf).
- Do not use spaces. Underscores (e.g., “date_name”) or camel case (e.g., “camelCase”) are good alternatives.
- Do not use special characters (e.g., #, $, &, @, :, ?, \, |).
- Do not make filenames too long (e.g., keep them under 25 characters).
1. ISO 8601 is an international standard for communicating dates and times.
Consider what is important about your data and what you (or team members) want to see in a filename, such as the following information:
- Researcher name or initials
- Date of collection or experiment
- Location
- Project name or acronym
- Data type (e.g., interview, transcript, raw, de-identified)
- Version number
Computers can order and sort file names by particular criteria. For example, in the File Explorer in Windows, you can sort by file name (alphabetically), date, file type, etc. Sorting by file name can be very helpful when you are trying to find or group files you have previously saved. When you name your files, consider how you might like them sorted. For example, do you want to include human participant codes first so you can sort all of your data from one participant together?
