Brudduh

Q: How to add the  time to a NUMBERS file name

I am working on a project spreadsheet which is constantly being updated during the day. When I share it with my colleagues I tried to add the time to the file name so we are all using the current version. I try to update the file name with the current time but when I tab through the name change  the colon changes to a forward slash i.e   12:40 PM becomes 12/40 PM. Any solution other than updating the header in print mode ?

 

Thanks in advance for any help on this

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015), El Capitan

Posted on May 9, 2016 9:02 AM

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Q: How to add the  time to a NUMBERS file name

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  • by Sparkleberry,

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry May 9, 2016 9:17 AM in response to Brudduh
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    May 9, 2016 9:17 AM in response to Brudduh

    Hi, Brudduh

     

    You are going to have to come up with some other naming convention, as you note, the OS X will change your : to a forward slash



    See

    OS X: Cross-platform filename best practices and conventions - Apple Support


    "You should avoid using colons and slashes in the names of files and folders because some operating systems and drive formats use these characters as directory separators. Consider substituting an underline (_) or dash where would normally like to use a slash or colon in a filename."


    (1) Just make a prominent header so that the other users will see the time of the sheet (from our earlier post),


    Add date and time to NUMBERS Header or Footer

    (2) get used to having to semi manual stick in a time 05091240PM at the end of the file name before the extension.

    or (3) use some third party app to stick in your own custom time (like Typinator or TextExpander), I use both

  • by Brudduh,

    Brudduh Brudduh May 9, 2016 9:24 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    May 9, 2016 9:24 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    Great solutions...thanks

  • by jaxjason,Helpful

    jaxjason jaxjason May 9, 2016 9:52 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 4 (3,729 points)
    iWork
    May 9, 2016 9:52 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    I would add one more convention to the naming concept.

     

    In my office when we need to put the date and time into file names for various purposes (usually export date/time), we have found using yyyymmdd hhmm with time in 24 hour format to be best. This allows files with the same core name to be sorted easily by the date and time stamp you have added.

     

    last, If you are finding it laborious to add the date/time to the name manually, you could use automator or create an applescript to do this. Since Numbers is scriptable, you could even make it change a cell in the workbook at the same time.

     

    Jason

  • by Sparkleberry,Helpful

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry May 9, 2016 9:44 AM in response to Brudduh
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    May 9, 2016 9:44 AM in response to Brudduh

    http://www.ergonis.com/products/typinator/

    I just created a little snippet

     

    {WW}_{NN}_{DD}{YYYY}_{h024}{m}.numbers

     

    and when I invoke a shortcut

    {ti 

    in the bar of Numbers where you can save the file in a different name, up pops

     

    Monday_May_092016_1140.numbers

     

    Untitled.png

     

    Untitled 2.png

    You can customize it anyway your want.

     

     

    - - - -

    Your mileage may vary.  Any advice given is based on my experience.  I have purchased shareware/commercial software in any advice given and have no financial interest in any products mentioned.

  • by Sparkleberry,

    Sparkleberry Sparkleberry May 9, 2016 9:45 AM in response to jaxjason
    Level 4 (3,110 points)
    Notebooks
    May 9, 2016 9:45 AM in response to jaxjason

    That is a good point regarding potential use for sorting, Jason.

  • by Brudduh,

    Brudduh Brudduh May 9, 2016 9:47 AM in response to Sparkleberry
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    May 9, 2016 9:47 AM in response to Sparkleberry

    Thank you again. I also thought that using military time might work too but subtracting 1200 might make some reach for a calculator !!!