Autoname Documents

Autonaming allows the user to configure a folder (when adding or editing it) so that documents uploaded or transferred to it can optionally be assigned names automatically. The assigned names are sequential, based on a user-defined format. On the group documents page, the icon for an autonaming folder has a dot on it . Note: You must have Folder Manage privileges for a group to enable autonaming of its folders.

Important notes

  1. Although a group may have several document folders, each folder has its own numbers.
  2. For folders with existing documents, the names of the existing documents are not changed when autonaming is enabled. Autonaming affects only those documents uploaded or transferred to the folder after autonaming is enabled.
  3. The default user-defined format is $year2-$month2-$docnum.$revnum.$extension. See the table below for a complete list of possible format variables. Using the default format, if autonaming is enabled for a folder, the Current Document Number is defined as 25, and the first document after autonaming is enabled is uploaded during September 2001, the automatically-generated name of that document would be: 01-09-00025.000.ppt. (Microsoft PowerPoint file, name 00025, Revision 000, uploaded September 2001):

The next document uploaded to this folder would have the name 01-09-00026.000.ext (with "ext" replaced by the appropriate file type extension; for example, "doc" for a Microsoft Word document, "xls" for a Microsoft Excel document, "exe" for an executable, and so on).

  1. If a document is uploaded as a revision to another document, it will use the base document's number and a new revision number. For example, if a revision to document 01-09-00025.000.ppt is uploaded, its name would be 01-09-00025.001.ppt.
  2. Documents added to an autonaming folder can optionally retain their original name. Otherwise, they are given the next available autoname, per the user-defined format. See Add a New Document or Document Revision for more information on adding a document.
  3. Documents transferred to an autonaming folder can optionally retain their original name. Otherwise, they are given the next available autoname, per the user-defined format. See Modify Document Details for more information on transferring a document.
  4. A user with Document Manage privileges can override the automatically-generated name when adding a new document to a folder with autonaming enabled. Be very careful when overriding the autoname, since duplicate file names are allowed. This could potentially overwrite an existing document with another document.
  5. The current number for a folder may be set at any time by a user with Folder Manage privileges for that group. Changes to a folder's naming scheme are not applied retroactively to existing documents.

Note: Once a number has been used in a folder it is never used again, unless the folder's latest number is reset. Resetting the document number may cause duplicate document names, depending on the naming scheme. Be very careful when resetting the document number.

  1. Only a user with Document Manage privileges can change information about a document in an autonaming folders. However, the submitter can submit a revision to the document; he/she just cannot modify it.
  2. When defining (Add Folder) or modifying (Edit Folder) a folder's naming scheme, the user will see Sample Document Names as part of the Add/Edit Folder details.

Autoname Format Variables

01 2001
09 September
00025 Name 00025
000 Revision 000
ppt Microsoft PowerPoint
Note: Date variables refer to document upload date.
$docnum Document number (5 digits with leading zeros).
$revnum Revision number (3 digits with leading zeros).
$year4 4-digit year.
$year2 2-digit year.
$monthabbrev 3-character month (for example, Feb).
$month2 2-digit month.
$day2 2-digit day of month.
$hour2 2-digit hour (24-hour format; for example, 1600).
$minute2 2-digit minute.
$filename Original filename (without extension).
$extension File extension (for example, xls, doc, ppt).
$firstname Submitter's First name.
$lastname Submitter's Last name.
$wgabbrev Owning group's abbreviation.
$foldername This folder's name.

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