Naming Conventions

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Naming Conventions

Why use Conventions?

It is advisable for a site to develop naming conventions for map-related entity occurrences. While mnemonic names work well at sites that have a few basic applications, mnemonic names become difficult to use as the number and complexity of applications increase.

Adhering to naming conventions makes it easier to construct names, easier to reconstruct names if one is forgotten, and easier for different users to determine the purpose of a map or map component. Naming conventions facilitate the construction of alternative map tables when alternative maps are required.

Sample Naming Conventions

The following naming conventions illustrate a sample system for giving names to map-related entities. PANEL and TABLE occurrence names can be from 1 through 32 characters in length. Names of MAP occurrences can be from 1 through 8 characters in length. The sample naming convention specifies 8-character names since it is intended for MAP occurrences as well as for PANEL and TABLE occurrences.

Notes:

For more information on PANEL occurrences, see the chapter "Panels and Maps".
For more information on TABLE occurrences, see appendix, “Generating Edit and Code Tables."

Position	Meaning	Value	Description
1	Source of entity	C	CA entity
2-3	Application	EX FS SY	Example application Financial system application System application
4	Type of entity	L M C E	Panel occurrence Map occurrence Table occurrence (code table) Table occurrence (edit table)
5	Special information	E F G S	English-language application French-language application German-language application Spanish-language application
6-8	Identification of entity	xxx

Sample Names

The following sample names demonstrate the naming conventions described in the previous table:

CEXME104 names a CA map that is used in a sample application. Literals are in English. The number 104 identifies this map.
CEXMG104 names a copy of map CEXME104 that contains German literals. Map CEXMG104 is an alternative for map CEXME104 and is used instead of CEXME104 when alternative maps are supported at the site and an operator with the GERMAN user type uses the map.
CEXLE221 names a CA panel that is used in a sample application. Literals are in English. The number 221 identifies the panel.
CEXCFWRB names a CA code table that is used in a sample application. The decoded values in the code table are in French. The letters WRB identify the code table.

It is often useful to integrate map-naming conventions for map-related entities with conventions used for dialogs and programs.