Wubi Wiki

http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/2004-02/msg00029.html

2. I recommend that files or directories be named according to the syntax below:

(a) A full name, for a versioned copy of the file:

where,

"ShortDescriptiveFilename" = a short descriptive filename that may contain upper and lower case text, numerals, "-" (dash) and "_" (underscore). Use upper camel case or dashes and underscores as separators. Space and other symbols are not allowed here;

Followed by two dashes;

"AuthorRef" = a reference comprising the name of the author and/or the organization where the file is authored. Upper camel case preferred. Separate author and organization with a dash if both are featured. Again, space and other symbols are not allowed here;

"VersionDateRef" = a reference comprising the version number and/or the date the file is released. Start the version number with a "v"; use "-" instead of "." in the version numbering (like "v2-15" instead of "v2.15"). Separate version and date with an underscore, if both are featured. For the date reference, the more significant parts should come first — use "yyyymmdd". Add an "a", "b", "c", ... suffix, if multiple versions may occur with the same date reference. Again, space and other symbols are not allowed here;

Followed by "." (a dot); [there should only be one "." in the entire filename, and it should be right before the file extension)

"ext" is the standard file extension by which this file can be associated with an appropriate application that will handle it. This is generally in 2~4 lower case alphanumeric characters.

(b) a brief name, for the current (latest posted) version of the file:

same conventions as above.

3. Examples:

4. As a reference, a similar convention is being practiced at w3c for their published work too. See, for example: (note their page header information) http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-webont-req-20040210/

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My situation is as follows: I use computers in several locations, using several different methods to transfer files in between them; so I need a way of naming files that will allow me to keep track of which ones are most up-to-date and which ones need to be merged into other files.

I think the above is a pretty good system, but it lacks a couple of things. One is location tracking; I suppose that the author metadata is the analogue to location in a multi-user, rather than multi-location, situation.

Then there is the question of time. I would like the naming of one file to be independent of how many previous files there were, so I'd rather no 'a, b, c, d' versioning. But at the same time, the idea of having to name each file down to the minute and second is too burdensome, especially updating it at each save. So maybe an ABCD system, at least within the span of a single day, would be do-able.

Examples: