====== File naming ======
Digital files must have names that allow viewers to understand the purpose and content of the file. A user who offers a descriptive file name makes operations easier and, ultimately, saves clients' time and money. 

=== Definition ===
A "digital file" means any computer-readable document, regardless of file type or file extension, that is meant to be stored on the firm's Nextcloud database.

==== Naming conventions ====

Digital files should bear names that include the following categories of information, in descending order, 
  - a word or characters that describe the file's purpose;
  - a short description of the file's contents;
  - an abbreviated date of the file's creation (where applicable or useful); and
  - the file extension (which is automatically generated by the computer--do not manually change file extensions).

For ease of reading, please render categories one (1), two (2), and three (3) in all capitals; category four (4) should be rendered in lowercase, unless the initial capital exception (//infra//) is applied.

=== Punctuation ===

Elements of a file name should be separated by a dash ( ''-'' ). Do __not__ use a period in any part of the file name, save to separate the name from the file extension.

Use a period ( ''.'' ) to separate the file extension from the rest of the string. 

=== Rendering dates in file names ===

Dates are rendered in file names as DAY-MONTH-YEAR. 

The day is always represented numerically using two digits. A placeholder '0' must be used if the day does not include a second digit (i.e. 1-9). 

The month is rendered as the first three or four letters of the month, all capitalized:

  * JAN
  * FEB
  * MAR
  * APR
  * MAY
  * JUN
  * JUL
  * AUG
  * SEPT
  * OCT
  * NOV
  * DEC

The year is represented with the four numbers that together make up our Arabic notation for the year.

==== Examples ====

=== Pleadings ===
//Pleadings may not require a description, for, in many cases, the file's purpose is sufficient. If, however, a pleading serves dual purposes (e.g. a defence and counterclaim), provide the main purpose (in our example, a defence) and indicate that a counterclaim is included in the description.//

''STATEMENT OF CLAIM - WILLIAMS AND HARVEY - 02-FEB-2023.odt''

''STATEMENT OF DEFENSE - HARVEY ATS WILLIAMS - 12-MAR-2023.pdf''

=== Matter journal / notes to file ===
//Files included in the matter journal folder of a matter file do not require the client and matter numbers in the file name. They are instead sequentially numbered to preserve a chronological order of files in the matter journal.//

''1.MEETING - attendance-resto - 18-APR-2023.md''

''2.NOTES - initial-review - 25-APR-2023.md''