Bit Literacy - Mark Hurst [45]
Chapter 10: Naming Files
Whenever the user creates a file—in ASCII, Word, PDF, or any other format—the file needs a name. This goes for any file, whether it’s stored somewhere on the user’s computer, or attached to an e-mail and sent off. When saving a document, spreadsheet, diagram, or any other file, a window pops up asking the user to name the file. It’s an important choice; a good file name makes the file easier to find again later, and it saves time by telling the user what it contains without the user having to open it.
Good file names are especially important when many files are present. For example, if a folder contains twenty files named some variation of “proposal.doc”, finding a particular proposal—or a particular revision—can be difficult and time-consuming. A folder with hundreds of files would make the task nearly impossible. Naming files properly helps avoid file overload and makes users much more productive.
Unfortunately, many users choose ineffective file names because they never learned how to name files properly. Here are some common “worst practices”:
Non-descriptive file names, like “agenda.doc” and “notes.doc”, which could refer to many different projects or contexts. As stated above, such file names are even more problematic when multiple files are present with similar names.
File names including the word “final”, as in “final report.doc”. There’s no better way to guarantee that you’ll need a revision than to name something “final”. Inevitably, the following versions become “final report revised.doc” and “final report revised USE THIS VERSION.doc”. It’s difficult to find the right one later.
File names including the word “new”. Even if the file is more recent than the last version, what happens when there are future revisions? The name “new new new report.doc” is hardly effective.
Resumes named “resume.doc”. As an employer, I can attest to the frequency with which applicants name their resumes this, which makes all the resume files look the same as they arrive. It’s impossible to sort through them unless I go through and manually rename them properly. (Because of this, my company has a policy of only accepting job applications without attachments. The resume has to be pasted in the body of an e-mail. Problem solved.)
These problems are all avoided by following a simple bit-literate file naming scheme. A good file name contains just enough information about the file to describe what’s inside, and omits everything else. Each part of a file name should contain useful information, or “any difference that makes a difference.”31 The only catch is that users have to be consistent in naming files with this scheme, or the system will break down. As with every other part of bit literacy, only after sustained practice does it begin to pay off.
The naming scheme
A bit-literate file name should contain the following fields, separated by hyphens: initials of the person who created the file, creation date, and topic or keyword. An extension may optionally be added. Shown as a template, the naming scheme looks like this:
initials-date-topic.extension
For example, for my draft of the book written on September 25 and saved as an ASCII file, the name might look like this:
mh-0925-bookdraft.txt
Correspondingly, a file named js-0313-projectplan.pdf could be John Smith’s project plan from March 13.
This one scheme can create a bit-literate name for all kinds of files:
files you create (a letter to Aunt Marge, notes from a meeting, a sketch of a new design)
files you save (a receipt you download from a website, or any e-mail you receive)
or any other files you need to name.
In each case, the file name shows who created the bits, when, and for what purpose. The file name thus represents the file as a “snapshot” of bits at one moment. This has practical consequences for how users work with files: users should save successive revisions to a file