Worked example · Geography · Year 7
DCF: Interacting and collaborating → Storing and sharing
One secure answer — not the only one. Every file on the printout is accounted for here: 12 kept and renamed, 4 archived as older versions, 4 parked for the owner to identify, and 6 deleted. That adds up to the 26 items on the printout, which is the quickest way to check a pupil's work.
Each problem is named with the actual files that show it, which is what makes the rest of the sheet possible.
7B-geography/ rivers-fieldwork-afon-teifi-2024/ 01-planning/ 2024-09-11_teifi_risk-assessment_signed.pdf 02-data/ 2024-09-12_cenarth_field-notes_v01_pd.txt 2024-09-13_cenarth_channel-measurements_v01_pc.xlsx 2024-09-18_cenarth_velocity-readings_v02_pd.xlsx 03-photos/ 2024-09-12_cenarth_channel-photo_01.jpg 2024-09-12_cenarth_channel-photo_02.jpg 2024-09-12_cenarth_flow-timer-screen.png 04-maps/ 2024-09-15_teifi_catchment-map.png 2024-09-15_cenarth_site-sketch-map.png 05-report/ 2024-09-21_cenarth_site-write-up_v02_pf.docx 2024-09-22_teifi_report_v02_pb.docx 06-presentation/ 2024-09-25_teifi_findings_v02_pe.pptx _archive/ 2024-09-13_cenarth_velocity-readings_v01_pd.xlsx 2024-09-19_cenarth_site-write-up_v01_pf.docx 2024-09-20_teifi_report_v01_pb.docx 2024-09-23_teifi_findings_v01_pe.pptx _check-with-owner/ Doc1.docx Untitled document.docx dsfsdf.docx homework.docx
Meets criterion 1. Folders are named after content, numbered so they sit in the order the project happened rather than alphabetically, and nothing is deeper than three levels. The two folders beginning with an underscore sort to the bottom, so the working folders stay at the top.
| The pattern | YYYY-MM-DD_place_content-type_vNN_initials.ext |
|---|---|
| Which date format? | Year first. 2024-09-13 sorts into the right order automatically; 13-09-2024 puts every 13th of the month together regardless of year. |
| Spaces, hyphens or underscores? | No spaces. Underscores separate the parts of the name, hyphens sit inside a part (channel-measurements). Spaces break web links and make command-line work awkward. |
| Versions | Two digits, v01, v02, never the word "final". Two digits so v10 still sorts after v09. |
| An example | 2024-09-18_cenarth_velocity-readings_v02_pd.xlsx |
Meets criteria 2 and 3: one predictable pattern, justified, and it is the pattern used everywhere in the tree above and the table below.
| File from the printout | Decision | New name and folder, or the reason |
|---|---|---|
| afon teifi data.xlsx | Rename | 02-data/2024-09-13_cenarth_channel-measurements_v01_pc.xlsx — the original 38 KB file, saved by Pupil C on the 13th. |
| Data2 - Copy.xlsx | Delete | 38 KB, identical to the file above and to Data2.xlsx. Three copies of the same measurements; keep the one with the meaningful name and delete both others. |
| Copy of Copy of river photo.JPG | Delete | 4.2 MB, the same size as IMG_4821.jpg from two days earlier, so it is a copy of a copy of that photograph. Deleting it frees 4.2 MB. |
| velocity readings FINAL.xlsx | Rename | 02-data/2024-09-18_cenarth_velocity-readings_v02_pd.xlsx — it is 24 KB and dated the 18th, so it is newer and longer than the 21 KB file from the 13th, which becomes v01 in _archive. |
| final REPORT final v2 (1).docx | Rename | 05-report/2024-09-22_teifi_report_v02_pb.docx — the newest report at 1.1 MB on the 22nd. The 1.0 MB version from the 20th becomes v01 in _archive. |
| Book1.xlsx | Delete | 9 KB and opens as a blank sheet: it is the default name Excel gives a spreadsheet nobody saved properly. Nothing is lost. |
| scan0001.pdf | Rename | 01-planning/2024-09-11_teifi_risk-assessment_signed.pdf — the teacher's signed risk assessment. No version number: a signed document is never edited, only replaced. |
| homework.docx | Ask the owner | Moved to _check-with-owner. It is dated the 24th and belongs to Pupil H, but nothing in the name links it to the fieldwork. I do not delete somebody else's work on a guess. |
Meets criterion 4: the duplicates are identified from the file sizes and dates rather than from the names, and the two ambiguous files are parked instead of deleted.
Meets criterion 5: view and edit rights are separated with a reason, and other people's work is protected by a rule rather than by good manners.
My partner was asked where the velocity readings from the trip were. They said "02-data, and it will be the one that starts with the latest date", and went straight to 2024-09-18_cenarth_velocity-readings_v02_pd.xlsx. They were right, and they did not need to open a single file to work it out — which is the whole point of naming files properly.
The test that matters: somebody who did not build the structure can still navigate it.