Introduction/Overview
In addition to documenting and organizing your data and analyses, you should choose names for files, directories, and variables that are self-documenting and consistent. This will facilitate automation and reduce mistakes. This lesson provides and explains specific principles for naming files and directories.
This 4.5-minute video provides an overview of the principles for naming and organizing data.
Use Informative Unique Names
Organize from general to specific (this also improves sorting order). Avoid nesting directories (folders) more than several layers deep. Avoid names that would conflict if they were accidentally moved into the same directory. Watch this 4-minute video.
Use Names that Improve File Sorting
You will spend a lot of time looking at listings of all the files in a directory. If these are designed to sort in a sensible way, it'll be much easier to identify errors.
For example, Year-month-day format + zero padding ensures the operating system will sort the list chronologically.
Subject identifiers should be strings with zero-padding rather than simple numbers. This will help ensure they sort correctly AND don't get treated like numbers in spreadsheet programs.
Watch this 4.5 minute video:
Don't Use Spaces in Names!
Don't use spaces in names! In addition, certain characters, like numbers cause problems if they are word-initial. Watch this 3-minute video
Resources
Digest
Summary
This lesson focused on best practices for naming files and directories in a project. The BIDS standard implements these standards for neuroimaging datasets. The standards will facilitate data review and processing
Informative
Short
Unique
General-to-specific
Absolute, not relative
Correct Sorting
Zero Padding
Avoid spaces
Avoid initial numbers
Subject Numbers Strings, not numbers
Self-documenting
Exit Question
TO DO Checklist
On the Discord COGS 500 server
✅ Share your response to the exit question on Discord under the informatics channel.
✅ Read and respond to messages on Discord.