Rule 5

If using a date in the file name always state the date ‘back to front’, and use four digit years, two digit months and two digit days: YYYYMMDD or YYYYMM or YYYY or YYYY-YYYY

Dates should always be presented ‘back to front’, that is with the year first (always given as a four digit number), followed by the month (always given as a two digit number), and the day (always given as a two digit number). Giving the dates back to front means that the chronological order of the records is maintained when the file names are listed in the file directory. This helps when trying to retrieve the latest dated record.

Rule 5 Example
	Correct	Incorrect
File name	20040324Agenda.rtf 20040324Minutes.rtf 20040324PaperA.rtf 20050201Agenda.rtf 20050201Minutes.rtf (Ordered alphanumerically as the files would be in the directory list)	1Feb2005Agenda.rtf 1Feb2005Minutes.rtf 24March2004Agenda.rtf 24March2004Minutes.rtf 24March2004PaperA.rtf (Ordered alphanumerically as the files would be in the directory list)
Explanation	This example shows the minutes and papers of a committee. By stating the year ‘back to front’ the minutes and papers from the most recent meeting appear at the bottom of the directory list.

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