Ask HN: How to Deal with "File Naming Problem"?

1 points by erelong 2mo ago ↗ HN

Frequently when I download something, the filename might be "Full.pdf" or "Book.pdf" rather than "[ActualTitleofBook].pdf"

If I go back to look for the file, it's likely to get lost so I'll probably just go hunt for the original PDF again online to download

Is this a problem to you or should filenames actually not contain anything about the subjects (like reflecting metadata)?

I guess my "solution" is manually requesting more changes of filenames from people until it catches on as a convention, unless someone convinces me that the random naming I see is fine for reasons I'm missing

4 comments

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eggbrain 2mo ago ↗

Normally, I separate the download filename (what the server / person chose to call the file) from my own organization system file name.

So if I download or get sent "Book.pdf", I'll rename it to how I'll remember it -- "Book Title - Author.pdf", etc.

That being said, I don't think there's any right answer here, it's usually just a matter of time and energy. If I had to enrich every single file I download with a great title / detailed metadata / etc that I'd need to find that file later, that's all I'd do all day.

davydm 2mo ago ↗

you could enable prompts on download - and set the filename yourself (or just rename after download). Ultimately, naming it yourself is the only way you're going to get names you're happy with.

eg https://www.technobezz.com/how-to-set-firefox-to-always-ask-...

apothegm 2mo ago ↗

Does your operating system not allow you to rename downloaded files?

erelong 2mo ago ↗

I guess I mean more that there doesn't seem to be an agreed upon convention that people actively use so that I don't have to manually rename things

(otherwise I wouldn't have to ask a question about this topic if files I download had some title you'd easily find in a search through files)

and I was wondering if we should encourage people to utilize a certain filename convention or if existing lack of a convention has a purpose

(programming languages for example sometimes have "style conventions" for how code should look; likewise I guess this is a kind of question about a convention about naming files - intuitively I'd think a PDF file of a book on "Geology 101" should be named "Geology101Book.pdf" for example, but frequently I do not encounter this)