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Is there a standard way of referring to electronic files?

English Language & Usage Asked on May 18, 2021

If I’m writing about a specific computer file – let’s say a file which looks, in some view, to be named ExampleFile.pdf (which is already problematic, since what you see might depend on the details of the computer), and I want to say "You can find this information in ExampleFile.pdf". Should I drop the extension? Should I italic it, or add quotes? Should I say something like "…when viewed in Windows 10 version 20H2 is called…."?

I suppose there might be even be "good practice" for not referring to the file by name at all.

Are there any standards out there for this situation?

EDIT: To be clear, I’m thinking about a formal document, not something like an email or blog post. If I was writing a formal letter, or perhaps a peer-reviewed article.

One Answer

It depends on the extent to which you and the other person know about the file already. However, no one goes wrong by being specific, so just cite the full file with the extension.

Answered by TerryM on May 18, 2021

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