Naming Patterns

Naming patterns let you control the filenames of generated PDFs. Instead of getting output_1.pdf, output_2.pdf, you can generate meaningful names like N4_John_Smith_123_Main_St.pdf.

How Patterns Work

A naming pattern is a string that can include:

• Static text — literal characters that appear in every filename.
• Column placeholders — dynamic values wrapped in square brackets [ColumnName] that are replaced with actual data from each row.

Example

Pattern:

N4_[TO_TenameName]_[RentalUnitAddress]

Data row: TO_TenameName = "John Smith", RentalUnitAddress = "123 Main St"

Generated filename:

N4_John_Smith_123_Main_St.pdf

Setting a Naming Pattern

1. Open a template in the Template Creator.
2. Click the Naming Pattern section in the toolbar.
3. Type your pattern using column names in square brackets.
4. A live preview shows what the filename will look like with sample data.

Available Placeholders

Any column from your imported data can be used as a placeholder. Common examples:

Placeholder	Resolves To
[TO_TenameName]	Tenant's name from data
[RentalUnitAddress]	Property address
[SignDate]	Signing date
[ArrearFrom1]	Period start date

Special Characters

Formstamper automatically sanitizes filenames by:

• Replacing spaces with underscores.
• Removing characters that are invalid in filenames (/, \, :, *, ?, ", <, >, |).
• Truncating excessively long names.

Tips

tip

• Keep patterns concise but unique — you want to be able to identify each document at a glance.
• Include at least one dynamic column to avoid duplicate filenames.
• Test your pattern with the live preview before stamping a large batch.