This lesson is in the early stages of development (Alpha version)

Data Management: File-naming and folder structures

Overview

Teaching: 20 min
Exercises: 5 min
Questions
  • How should files be named?

  • How should folders be organised?

Objectives
  • Understand the importance of good file-naming and folder structures

Poor file-naming can make your life and the lives of your collaborators unnecessarily stressful. Data will be lost or at best hard to find. Incorrect files will be used and shared. Important files will be overwritten. For the sake of a few extra seconds when saving your files, all of these issues can be remedied.

The result will be a general increase in efficiency, clear folder structures, filenames that are recognisable and searchable, and improved project cohesion with everyone involved working from clear, trustworthy data sources.

The Principles of Good File-naming

An example of a poor filename would be: results final 7.xls. An example of a good filename would be: ELISA_ID123_RH_170719_v002.xls.

Thinking about and typing a good filename may take an extra 30 seconds, but it may cost you a lot more time in the future if you don’t.

One issue you may encounter when following the above guidelines is a large number of previous versions. For example, you may edit and resave a file every day for several months. What should you do with the old versions? One approach would be to create an ‘archive’ folder, and put older files in there. These could be compressed by storing them in an archive file format in order to save space (e.g. a zip or tar.gz file). If your older files are too large to store in a local archive, even after compression, there are a few options. One would be to only save those files that contain major revisions, deleting any that contained minor changes. Another would be to store the files on cloud storage, where tens of gigabytes of space can now be purchased very cheaply.

The Principles of Good Folder Organisation

Exercise: Folder example

How could you improve the following set-up? alt text

Solution

* Rename the folders
* Rename the files (name, dates, remove words like 'final' and 'complete')
* Create new folders, including an archive

Key Points

  • Basic data management ideas can improve efficiency and reduce risk