Using Special Characters in Elliott Item Numbers
Version: 7.5 & Higher
Q - Are there any special characters I should avoid when creating a new item number? For example, which one of the following are preferred item numbers:
- HCC451-30
- HCC451_30
- HCC451/30
- HCC451*30
- HCC451 30
- HCC451(30)
A - HCC451-30 is the best choice. Any characters that have special interpretations by the file system are a bad choice to use for item numbers. If you want to use Elliott’s “link” feature for item image, spec, drawing files, then the item number will be part of the file name. Therefore, if your item number contains special characters that are not suitable to be used for a file name, the link feature for that item won’t work.
The “(“ or “)” symbols are OK to use, and so is the underscore "_". But they are not our first choice. The dash(hyphen) “-“ is commonly used in a file name, so it is our first choice. Spaces may be interpreted as a "terminators" in command lines and should be avoided.
In the above example, the forward slash “/” or back slash “\” are bad choices because they are used by the file system as separators. The EDI system uses asterisk "*" symbols extensively as separators.
The following article has good a explanation on what characters should be avoided for file naming:
https://www.mtu.edu/umc/services/websites/writing/characters-avoid/
Do not use any of these common illegal characters/symbols:
- # pound
- % percent
- & ampersand
- { left curly bracket
- } right curly bracket
- \ back slash
- < left angle bracket
- > right angle bracket
- * asterisk
- ? question mark
- / forward slash
- blank spaces
- $ dollar sign
- ! exclamation point
- ' single quotes
- " double quotes
- : colon
- @ at sign
- + plus sign
- ` backtick
- | pipe
- = equal sign
- Don’t start or end your item number with a period, hyphen, or underline.
- Avoid using spaces; use a hyphen instead.
EMK