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File & Directory Naming Conventions

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jaamarks edited this page May 23, 2019 · 4 revisions

In attempt to establish consistency across naming conventions, which will hopefully create a more user-friendly environment, I outline a few details that I am going to begin following.

  • Files should be named in a concise manner.

  • File names should follow the following conventions as closely as they practically can:

    • YYYYMMDD-project-affiliate-unique-descriptors.csv
    • YYYYMMDD_project2_affiliate_unique_descriptors.csv
    • In some instances, it might make more sense to deviate from the above convention, and I will if that is the case.

  • Separate elements or descriptor words should be delimited by a hyphen or underscore. The period should be reserve for the precursor to the file extension. Most words will be lowercase; however, in some instances it may make more sense to capitalize a word (e.g. acronyms).

    • /usr/bin/python-config
    • /home/jmarks/Documents/this-is-my-document.txt
    • /share/storage/Projects/20180830_heroin_scz2_GWAS_results.tsv

  • Directories should not exceed two units (words) and they shall be delimited with an underscore.


The main intent of this documentation is to attempt to establish a directory & file naming convention that will create less ambiguity, and to foster & support an environment for productivity.

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