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Is there a recommended naming convention for files?

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Is there a recommended naming convention for files?

File names should contain only letters, digits and the symbols “_” or“-” .

We recommend you avoid spaces or other symbols, and have only one period “.” before the file extension.

 

As a minimum, we recommend that you include the following information:

What - describe the type of data collected e.g. Tree_survey_

Where - a code for the location where the data was collected e.g. Brigalow_Belt_

Date -

  • If submitting files for only one date, then the date of the data in YYYYMMDD format e.g. 20191025_

  • If you have multiple files where data spans different date ranges, then the start date and end date of the data in the file e.g. 20190830-20190930

Processing level - If you will provide the data at different levels of processing, for example, a) raw data as collected and b) data after cleansing/filling, removing outliers, we recommend you provide a code to describe the processing level of the data.

e.g. level_0 for raw data, level_1 for first level of processing, etc.

 

So your file name could be:

Tree_survey_Brigalow_Belt_20191025_level_1.csv

 

Where incuding a data dictionary, use the prefixes ‘data’ and 'dictionary'

data_Tree_survey_Brigalow_Belt_20191025_level_1.csv

dictionary_Tree_survey_Brigalow_Belt_20191025_level_1.csv

 

For version control please follow :

Tree_survey_Brigalow_Belt_20191025_level_1_v1.csv

Tree_survey_Brigalow_Belt_20191025_level_1_v2.csv

Tree_survey_Brigalow_Belt_20191025_level_1_v3.csv

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