Enforce File Naming Convention on Windows Share?

Question

Hi Everyone,

Simple question, but I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. Is there a way in Windows, or via a third-party utility, to enforce file naming conventions within a Windows network share?

I'm sure this is easy in Sharepoint, but I want to be able to limit users to the file name format they save into a folder. I could create a post-save program to go and look for exceptions after the fact, but I want to try and force the user to name the files according to our standards when they save.

If something is not available/configurable on the server-side, could this be accomplished via VBA in Excel or Word in the save-file dialogue?

Thanks for your help.

A

Answer 1

There is nothing, to my knowledge, that can restrict file names.

Nothing unless you write it yourself.

Answer 2

How about monitoring the folder for changes and as soon as a file with the "wrong" file name is created you alert the user in some way?

Idealy you'd want a "hook" of some sort on the file system level that will also let you fail the file operation if the filename is wrong; but I don't think there's anything at user (not kernel) level that does this.

Answer 3

You will have to write a program to act as a gateway to the share to enforce this. You'll also have to restrict access to the share so users cannot circumvent the program.