A naming pattern provides a way to automatically name record
categories, record folders, and records to meet your conventions.
When a user creates one of these entities that has an associated naming
pattern, the name is automatically supplied on the Set Properties
step. The system does not prevent the user from changing that name.
Incrementing numbers are assigned and used up as soon as the Set Properties
step displays. If you cancel before creating the entity, that number
is never used.
About this task
To automatically name records, enter a naming pattern in
the Record Pattern field of the parent container. The record pattern
is a property of the container. All records declared into that container
acquire the next name in the pattern sequence and increments according
to the value you enter in the
Record Pattern Increment
By field.
Results
About naming pattern syntax
Use the values YY or
YYYY, MM, and DD for dates. Each of these values can be a bracket
pair [YY], or they can be combined when separated by dots [YY.MM.DD].
Your business process might require that folder names start with the
letter A, followed by two digits or four digits representing the year,
a hyphen, and then a folder number. For example, the name is A07-000005 or A2007-000005.
The following patterns create such names: A[YY]-[\d\d\d\d\d\d] , A[YYYY]-[\d\d\d\d\d\d]
In
these patterns, A is the first character, YY or YYYY represents
the year, and \d is a numeral. The system automatically
provides default values for patterns enclosed by brackets [].
Thus, YY is replaced by the last two digits of the
current year. \d is replaced by incrementing digits.
You specify the increment value in another field when entering the
string.
In another record naming pattern, you
might want to create a naming rule for folders in a series. For example, KX followed
by a two digit or four-digit year, period, two-digit month, period,
two-digit day, hyphen, and a set of numerals. For example, the name
is KX07.06.22-0004. The following pattern fulfills
this requirement: KX[YY.MM.DD]-[\d\d\d\d]
You
can also use custom patterns to create metadata-based patterns. For
instance, your organization policies might require that the record
folder naming convention is year, space, subject (metadata) of the
containing category, space, and a five-digit number, such as 2006
LOAN 00005. For example, create a naming pattern with following
specifications: [YYYY] [Parent.Emailsubject] [\d\d\d\d\d]
Important: When you specify Parent, capitalize
only the first letter of the string.
The system provides the
default values for year and subject because these values are enclosed
in
[].
Parent.Emailsubject is a
custom pattern. Therefore, the system provides the value of the metadata
field,
Emailsubject, that you specify for the
parent of the record folder. Specify the symbolic name of the property
while creating a custom pattern. Also, if there is no value available
for the specified property, an error is generated. Custom patterns
are applicable at level 1 in the file plan. File Plan Level is another
field you complete when adding a pattern level.
Specify a user name
using the following pattern: KX[YYYY.MM.DD] [username] [\d\d\d\d\d].
For example, KX2011.10.22 username 00005
Do
not use any characters that are invalid in names. For example, do
not use a slash / character when incorporating dates.
Invalid characters are: \ / : * ? " < > |
Important: If you use a pattern that is not recognized, it is
added to the name as it displays. For example [xyz] would generate
a name of [xyz].
To add a naming pattern:
- Sign in as Records Administrator and select the Configure tab.
- Click Naming Patterns.
- Click Add Naming Pattern.
- On the Add Pattern page, enter a name and description for the
pattern.
- Select Name or Identifier from
the Apply to Name or Id menu. Depending upon
the value you select, the name or identifier of the record category
or record folder is automatically generated according to the associated
pattern.
- Click Next.
- Set the security for the naming pattern and click Finish.
- On the confirmation page, click Add Pattern Level to
add levels to the naming pattern. If you want to add levels later,
click OK to close the Add Pattern page.
A pattern level supplies the details of the pattern to be applied
to record categories and record folders. You specify one or more levels
in the file plan and the type of entity each applies to. When a new
entity of that type is created at the specified level, it is automatically
named according to the pattern string and incremental number. This
procedure continues from the confirmation page after you click Add
Pattern Level.
To add a pattern level:
- Enter a File Plan Level Number. The level in the file plan hierarchy
is represented by a number, where the first category in the file plan
is 1. Its first subcategory is 2. If that subcategory has a record
folder, its level is 3.
- For the Matching Entity Type, select Record Category or Record
Folder. For example, if you specify 3 as the level and
Record Category as the entity type, all record categories that exist
at the third level in the file plan follow the specified naming pattern.
- Specify the Pattern String, as described earlier. The pattern
string must provide for a numeric character.
- Enter a value for the Record Pattern Increment By.
Using a value of 1, each new category or folder affected by the pattern
is incremented at the next highest value. An increment of 2 uses every
other number. This field must be greater than zero.
- Click Add. This option lists the pattern
at the end of the screen and clears the fields so you can add additional
patterns for other entities and levels.
- Click Exit when finished adding pattern
levels.
Example
If you want subcategories of a record category
to be automatically named, create a pattern for level 2 and select
Record Category as the type. If you also want record folders in that
subcategory to be automatically named, create a pattern for level
3 and select Record Folder as the type. Having both of these pattern
levels in the naming pattern results in subcategories at level 2 and
record folders at level 3 being automatically named.
To add
or modify pattern levels later:
- Go to the naming pattern () and click Get
Info .
- Select Manage Pattern Level in the sidebar.
- If adding a pattern level, complete the fields as described earlier
about adding a pattern level. If modifying an existing pattern level,
continue to the next step.
- Select the pattern. This copies existing data into the fields.
- Change the fields as required and click Edit.
- To add a pattern at another level after adding or changing a pattern
level, click Add.
- To modify another pattern, click the pattern, change fields, and
click Edit.
- To delete an existing pattern level, select the pattern and click Delete.
- When finished, click Exit.
To assign a naming pattern to a file plan (required to activate
auto naming):
- Go to the root level of the file plan so that the path shows only
the name of the file plan.
- Click Get Info for the file plan (just
beneath the path). The Naming Pattern field
is on the Properties page.
- From the Naming Pattern menu, select the
name of the pattern you want to use.
- Click Apply and then Exit.