1. Naming Conventions
Rationale
Thisdocumentoutlinesthe namingconventionforDatasetsreceivedbySA NTDatalinkincluding
examplesof formatstobe used.All namingconventionsneedtobe succinct,unique anddescriptive.
Namingdatasetsaccordingtoagreedconventionsshouldmake filenamingeasierforusersbecause
theywill nothave to're-think'the processeachtime.
Naming folders and documents - General Rules
• The file name needstobe splitintoaseriesof tokensstartingwiththe mostGenericandending
withthe mostSpecific.The first3 tokensidentifythe DataSetName,Data SegmentandYear/Month
received. The lasttokenidentifiesthe nextstatusof the file –i.e.whatwill happennexttothe file.
• A Dot (.) will separate text(the space betweenwords,andanunderscore (_) will separate all non-
alphacharacters such as periodsof coverage,datesandthe space betweentextandnumbers.
• Ensure there are no spacesin the file name.Inthe file name,avoidusingsymbolsi.e. /&: * ? " >
< because the systemmaynotrecognise them.Leave outwordslike….in,of,if,but,so,and,for,the.
DatasetName(jurisdiction)_DataSegment(periodof coverage) _Year/Monthreceived_Post
Condition(whatwillhappennexttothe file).
For example:SA.BIRTH_CY1999-2005_201108_Staging
• The file name shouldnotexceed50 characters: - the ideal lengthshouldbe somewhere around35-
40. Althoughthere isnospecificrestrictiononthe lengthof file name thatcanbe loadedintothe
system,the title shouldbe justlongenoughtoprovide enough informationtodescribe the content
of the dataset.
• Where possible,eachtokenof the file name shouldnotexceed10 characters.In situationswhere
there are more than10 characters, thenan approvedabbreviationwill be required(see
Abbreviationssectionbelowformore information).
• All textinthe file name shouldbe displayedinUpperCase exceptforthe PostCondition.

2. File Variants
If a datasetisreceivedwithanupdate tothe original dataset,theninsertanalphacharacter'b' after
the Year/Monthof receipt.If a furtherdatasetisreceived,thena'c' wouldbe placedafterthe
year/monthof receipt.
For example:SA.BIRTH_CY1999-2005_201108b_Staging
Special Naming Conventions for Project Cohorts
ProjectCohorts(PC) require adifferent namingconvention.Includethe projectname atthe
beginningof the file name,followedbythe periodof coverage (datasegment),year/monthof
receiptandendingwiththe PostCondition(ifapplicable).ProjectIDmayalsobe included.
For example:SA.ProjectName_PCYYYY-YYYY_YYYY_Linkage
PC.ProjectName.<Jurisdiction>_SCYYYYMM_Raw
PC for Project Cohort
JurisdictionIF APPLICABLE
SC for Study Cohort
Year and Month of date receipt
Abbreviations
• Where a jurisdictionhasaname longerthan10 characters, abbreviate the name byremovingthe
vowels.
• Where there ismore thanone word inthe jurisdictionname,adotshouldseparate the words,e.g.
CHILD.PROTfor ChildProtection.
• DescriptionssuchasFinancial Yearwouldbe abbreviatedtoFYwiththe later of the two tax years
includedinthe namingconvention,i.e.2002/2003 wouldbe writtenasFY03.
• Where a providergivesusadatasetthat issplitalphabetically(forexample accordingtosurname,
displaythese specificsinthe file name asfollows:A-JorK-Z.

3. • A listof abbreviationswillneedtobe compiledandwhichwill alsobe clearlyvisibletoaffected
staff.Thiswill be anevolvingdocumentgiventhatjurisdictionnamescanchange overtime,so
abbreviationswill needtobe updatedfromtime totime.