Documenting Mathcad Files

>As my list of stored Mathcad files grows by the day I thought I would create a thread for collabs to suggest the method used for filing their worksheets. I have that many sheets saved I am finding it increasing difficult to locate the functions/worksheets that I am lookinf for.

I have modified the 'Normal' template so the Vector, String, Nested Array and Cubic Splines routines appear when Mathcad is opened and they are deleted if not used when I save as, but their must be a better way of documenting all saved function, sheets etc.

Excel has been chosen software to handle my filing but it's time consuming and a little tedious.

Mike

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Is it possible that there is nothing to understand to what you are trying to say ?

What is Excel doing in there, in a filing system, in filing Mathcad ws ?

The matter is to organise your sheet names and Windows does the rest for you.

_Spline Bézier

_Spline Catmull Clark

_Spline Esplina

_Spline Polyline

_Spline Lagrange

_Spline Complex

_Spline Cubic_0

_Spline Cubic_1

_Spline B

_Spline Interpolate Fit

............................ etc.

Sorry Mike, what is your problem or suggestion ?

Jean

I use a lot of folders to store sheets by category. I also tend to use long, descriptive names for the worksheets that include as many keywords as possible (i.e. words I think I might search for). For individual functions, I keep a few separate sheets and put any functions I might reuse frequently in those. They can be put in areas to group them together. Searching one or two worksheets for a desired function is much easier than searching dozens of worksheets!

Before I Save As..., I think very carefully about the filename of the worksheet. I put the most important concept of the work sheet at the first part of the filename so that files listed alphanumerically sort the files accordingly.

Then, at the top of the worksheet is the extended name of the worksheet (I try to keep it to one line). The very next line is a one sentence description of the worksheet. The filename is usually a contraction of the extended name of the worksheet. For example, in a worksheet that calculates Johnson noise in a resistor, the first two line of the worksheet are:

Noise- Johnson thermal noise of a resistor

Calculate the noise power, voltage, current and charge in a resistor.

The filename I chose for this worksheet is “NoiseJohnson-vs-R.mcd”. I use automatic filename in the Header so that printouts show the filename of the worksheet. For revisions, I append 2 digit numbers (e.g., 01, 02, 03, …, 10, 11, …) so that revisions also sort alphanumerically. I’ve never had more than 100 revisions in a worksheet.

This works very well for me. Occasionally, I use Windows Search text inside file to find calculation that I’ve already done.