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Document Naming and Versioning

Without a clear name and a version number it’s very difficult for anyone searching for an electronic document to find it or know if the document they do find is the final version or a draft not yet completed and/or approved. For this reason Information and Policy Services have created the following document (file) naming and version control conventions for electronic documents. You should use these conventions when creating any new, or updating any existing, electronic document.

 

File Naming Conventions:

Elements of a File Name

  1. Date [International standard YYYY-MM-DD]
  2. Subject
  3. Document Type
  4. Version#

Example using all elements:

2009-09-23_Use of Records Template_User Manual_VDraft1b.doc

2009-10-13_Property and Infrastructure Committee_TOR_V2.doc

Separators

Underscores[_] for separating elements

Hyphens [-] used when separating date sequence e.g. [2009-10-23]

General Rules

  • The Subject should be as descriptive as possible without necessarily using the whole title of the record.
  • Avoid very long file names as these can cause problems when saving or retrieving the record.
  • When adding a version number into your file name always use a capital ‘V’ before the draft/full number/decimalised version number e.g. VDraft1a/V1/V1.1
  • After making a Minor Amendment to a record, do not change the date in the file name when saving this amended record. Minor Amendments do not affect the retention period of a record. The date is used to calculate this retention period.

Version Control Conventions:

Version Control is……

  • Treated as one of the elements of Unitec’s File Naming Convention. Enter a capital ‘V’ and then the appropriate version number immediately after the ‘Document Type’ element of the file name.
  • Together with the Amendment History details of a record , provides a clear audit trail of amendments made, including who made the amendments, when these occurred and the record’s status – draft or final.

General Rules

  • Newly created records should start with version number Draft 1a.
  • Subsequent changes to the first draft will increment to Draft1b, Draft1c etc. to reflect changes between drafts.
  • Use full numbers e.g. 1, when the record has become FINAL, dropping the Draft & alpha.
  • Use the addition of a decimal number to indicate Minor Amendments e.g. Version: 1 becomes Version: 1.1.
  • If a Major Amendment (usually resulting from a Formal Review) has been made to a record, this is reflected by changing the current version number to the next whole version number e.g. Version: 1 becomes Version: 2 or Version: 1.3 (having had 3 Minor amendments) becomes Version: 2.
  • Records being created / reviewed can be easily identified by their version number e.g. a record with a version number of Draft#a indicates the record is being created / under amendment.
  • Subsequent changes to records while under review/being created will increment to Draft#b, Draft#c etc. to reflect changes made throughout the review period.
  • The current version of a record will always remain available until a new version is ready for release.
  • The current version number shall be included in the Header/Footer of any record created/reviewed.
  • Any amendments, minor/major/formal review must be noted in the Amendment History section of a record.

Minor Amendments

A minor amendment is a change to a record that would in no way affect the overall meaning or implementation of any part of the record, e.g. misspelt words or incorrect grammar.

Major Amendments

A major amendment is a change to a record that has an affect on the overall meaning or implementation of any part of the record. Major amendments normally result from a formal review of the record.

Version                     Explanation of Numbering         

Draft 1a                         Indicates first draft.

Draft 1b, 1c etc            Indicates subsequent changes to first draft.

1                                     Indicates first FINAL version of a record.

1.1                                  Indicates first Minor Amendment.

1.2…etc                        Indicates second Minor Amendment.

Draft 2a                         Indicates under a Major Amendment /Formal Review since previous FINAL version.

Draft 2b…etc                Indicates subsequent changes while under Major Amendment /Formal Review.

2                                     Indicates second FINAL version of a record since it was first created

 

Further information about file naming and version control conventions can be found in the Creation and Maintenance of Electronic Records Procedure.

To find out how to include these file name and version control conventions on documents that are likely to be produced in paper format refer to this 2 page handout  Document Details Guidelines