File name revision question

[2Far ★]

So, as a little background, the company is changing its name. we've been owned by the current overlords for about 7-8 years but kept our old name with a "An XYZ Company" underneath in logos & such. The other minion companies have been doing the same thing. Now they want us all to go as "XYZ Integrated Companies". This is a giant PITA on several levels. Emails, forms, manuals, on-line DB services, etc.

My quandary is that I have a safety manual which is divided into about 50 files for on-line DB reasons. The file name format is say, "Fall Protection - Rev.2017-05-01". For various & sundry reasons, the files have varying revision dates, but the dates allow me & the on-line DBs to keep track of what's when. I'm thinking I don't want to change all the rev dates to 2021-01-01 because I'd lose the quick reference to hold old the actual file is. I was thinking that I'd change the above file to "Fall Protection - Rev.2015-05-01L" to keep the old date & capture the logo/name change.

Am I over/under thinking this or what?

[jsharr ★]

I like your plan. I work for a company that changes files constantly and the CEO wants every version he’s ever had. I know the headache of trying to keep seven revisions of one document.

Keeping track saved me lots of time yesterday when he wanted a file from 2016.

[MickinMD ★]

1 hour ago, 2Far said:

So, as a little background, the company is changing its name. we've been owned by the current overlords for about 7-8 years but kept our old name with a "An XYZ Company" underneath in logos & such. The other minion companies have been doing the same thing. Now they want us all to go as "XYZ Integrated Companies". This is a giant PITA on several levels. Emails, forms, manuals, on-line DB services, etc.

My quandary is that I have a safety manual which is divided into about 50 files for on-line DB reasons. The file name format is say, "Fall Protection - Rev.2017-05-01". For various & sundry reasons, the files have varying revision dates, but the dates allow me & the on-line DBs to keep track of what's when. I'm thinking I don't want to change all the rev dates to 2021-01-01 because I'd lose the quick reference to hold old the actual file is. I was thinking that I'd change the above file to "Fall Protection - Rev.2015-05-01L" to keep the old date & capture the logo/name change.

Am I over/under thinking this or what?

Sounds like what you're doing makes a lot of sense.  There may be reasons, in the future, to want to know when certain revisions went into effect in the past. so keeping the dates may be a big deal.

[JerrySTL ★]

1 hour ago, 2Far said:

Am I over/under thinking this or what?

Yes. 

What do your overlords what you to do? I'd pass it by them first.

[bikeman564™]

LOL, my company also is going thru a name change. It's been the original name since 1964, but we're changing now due to ownership. Major PITA doesn't describe it. Just remember, no one will do anything but you. Then someone will bitch. Ya can't win Good luck, we're all counting on you.

[donkpow]

2 hours ago, 2Far said:

Am I over/under thinking this or what?

This should help. I know it helps me.

[2Far ★]

41 minutes ago, JerrySTL said:

Yes. 

What do your overlords what you to do? I'd pass it by them first.

The overlords are more into overlording than micromanaging. Thankfully.

[maddmaxx ★]

What's the limit on file name length?

The partial file name "formerlyknownas" comes to mind

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

It sounds as if you're going to have to open the 50 files, update any logos or company name references to comply with the decree from the overloads, then save the files.

If that's the case, I'd just save the files with the new date and with a manual section number instead of letter to indicate they were updated.

For example "Fall Protection - Rev.2017-05-01" would become "Fall Protection 01 - Rev.2021-01-13" through "Fall Protection 50 - Rev.2021-01-13".  That way the file name tells you the manual section number as well, the files will sort themselves in the same order as they appear in your overall manual, and you know from the date that the logos/names were updated. 

If you use a save-as command in whatever program you're using, the original files with the original dates should still remain for historical purposes.  If not, I'd just copy them over to a separate folder before editing.