Frequently Asked Question

What is the PDF File Name Pattern setting?

The PDF File Name Pattern setting allows your company to control how exported report file names are generated.

Instead of using a fixed format, you can define your own pattern using placeholders (tokens) like:

{Proposal}_{Company}_{Project}_{Date:yyyyMMdd_HHmmss}_{PropCompany}

What placeholders (tokens) can I use?

You can use the following tokens in your pattern:

How do I format the date?

You can format the date directly inside the {Date} token using standard .NET date formats:

Can I change the order of fields?

Yes. You can arrange tokens in any order.

Example:

{Company}_{Project}_{Proposal}_{Date:yyyyMMdd}

Can I change separators?

Yes. Separators are simply whatever characters you type between tokens.

Examples:

Underscores:

{Company}_{Project}_{Date:yyyyMMdd}

Dashes:

{Company}-{Project}-{Date:MM-dd-yyyy}

Spaces:

{Company} {Project} {Date:yyyyMMdd

What happens if a value is blank?

If a field (like {Project}) is empty:

• It will be removed from the file name
• Extra separators will be automatically cleaned up

Example:

Pattern:

{Company}_{Project}_{Date}

If Project is empty:

ABC_20260422.pdf

What happens if I use an invalid token?

Unknown tokens will be ignored and removed.

Example:

{Company}_{UnknownField}_{Date}

Result:

ABC_20260422.pdf

Are invalid filename characters handled?

Yes. Any invalid characters (like \ / : * ? " |) are automatically replaced to ensure the file name is valid.

What is the default pattern?

If no pattern is configured, the system uses:

{Proposal}_{Company}_{Project}_{Date:yyyyMMdd_HHmmss}_{PropCompany}

Examples

Example 1 – Full detail

{Proposal}_{Company}_{Project}_{Date:yyyyMMdd_HHmmss}_{PropCompany}

Result:

MyProposal_ABC_NewTower_20260422_154530_XYZ.pdf

Example 2 – Simple format

{Company}-{Project}-{Date:MM-dd-yyyy}

Result:

ABC-NewTower-04-22-2026.pdf

Example 3 – Minimal format

{Project}_{Date:yyyyMMdd}

Result:

NewTower_20260422.pdf

Tips

• Keep patterns simple to avoid very long file names
• Use consistent separators (e.g., all _ or all -)
• Test your pattern with real data before finalizing
• Avoid adding unnecessary fields if they are often empty