From Van Essen Lab

Contents 1 Caret File Naming Conventions 1.1 Examples of Files Properly Named 1.2 Caret File Name Components 1.2.1 Species Component 1.2.2 Structure Component 1.2.3 Extension Component 1.3 Creating a New Spec File

Caret File Naming Conventions

By following the Caret file naming conventions, newly created files are properly named.

Do NOT use spaces in file names.

Examples of Files Properly Named

• Human.1582.L.REGISTER-with-ATLAS.65950.spec
• Human.1582.L.Eye_movements_attention.65950.metric
• Human.1582.L.CartesianGrid.71785.borderproj
• deformed_Human.1582.L.REGISTER-with-ATLAS.71785.deform_map

Caret File Name Components

In Caret, a file name consists of a group of components separated by periods. As a result, the use of periods within the individual components is strongly discouraged. Within the components consider underscores or dashes in place of period. These components are:

• Species (see below for a list of species)
• Subject (Name of subject, ie: Control_Case01)
• Structure (see below for a list of structures)
• Description (A description of the file's contents, ie: fMRI, Partitioning_Schemes)
• Date (Used at one time, but its use is no longer recommended)
• Number of Nodes (Include if the file is node related such as coordinates, topology, metric, shape, labels, etc).
• Extension (The extension identifying the data file, type).

Assembling the components results in "Species.Subject.Structure.Description.NumberOfNodes.Extension".

Species Component

For species use:

• Baboon
• Chimpanzee
• Ferret
• Galago
• Biggon
• Gorilla
• Human
• Macaque
• Mouse
• Orangutan
• Rat

Structure Component

For structure use a one or two letter abbreviation. Descriptions are in parenthesis:

• L (Left Cerebral Cortex)
• R (Right Cerebral Cortex)
• LR (Both Left and Right Cerebral Cortex)
• C (Cerebellum)
• S (Subcortical)

Extension Component

Common File Extensions (All extensions are listed in the Open Data File and Save Data File Dialog file filters):

• .areacolor
• .border
• .bordercolor
• .borderproj
• .coord
• .foci
• .focicolor
• .fociproj
• .metric
• .nii
• .nii.gz
• .paint
• .surface_shape
• .topo

Creating a New Spec File

The best way to create a new spec file is to run:

• On the command line, "caret_command -spec-file-create"
• Window Menu->Caret Command Executor. Run SPEC FILE CREATE (The GUI interface to "caret_command -spec-file-create")