# Automatic data file naming and stream starting **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [October 13, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493 "2014-10-13T22:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cstawarz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/mworks.discourse.group/cstawarz/32/3_2.png) [@cstawarz](https://mworks.discourse.group/u/cstawarz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493/1 "2014-10-13T22:45:04Z")
After some discussion, we think that a great enhancement would be the option for automatic data saving, along with automatic file naming. Something that would be ideal would be a three part name, comprised of some user generated string, the name of the experiment file, and a numerical identifier that is incremented based on the files already in the save directory. An example would be evan\_InterceptCircle\_15. The user generated string could be part of the workspace file. I think this fits nicely within the MWorks “save everything” philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![cstawarz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/mworks.discourse.group/cstawarz/32/3_2.png) [@cstawarz](https://mworks.discourse.group/u/cstawarz)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493/2 "2014-10-14T16:47:16Z")
Hi Evan, Optional automatic data saving seems like a very good idea. I’ll add it to my to-do list. Cheers, Chris ---
**Author:** ![cstawarz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/mworks.discourse.group/cstawarz/32/3_2.png) [@cstawarz](https://mworks.discourse.group/u/cstawarz)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493/3 "2014-10-16T12:24:47Z")
Hi Chris, That would be great. As a matter of fact, we had another chat about this and I think it could be considered our top priority as of now. Another thing to add, which Elias suggested a while back, would be to allow choosing different directories: [http://help.mworks-project.org/discussions/suggestions/4-choosing-save-location-for-data-files](http://help.mworks-project.org/discussions/suggestions/4-choosing-save-location-for-data-files) Thanks, Evan ---
**Author:** ![cstawarz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/mworks.discourse.group/cstawarz/32/3_2.png) [@cstawarz](https://mworks.discourse.group/u/cstawarz)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493/4 "2014-11-20T16:09:53Z")
Hi Chris, We chatted offline about the priority of this enhancement. Based on feedback from the lab, I’d say this is definitely something that we’d like to push up the priority list if that’s possible. Evan ---
**Author:** ![cstawarz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/mworks.discourse.group/cstawarz/32/3_2.png) [@cstawarz](https://mworks.discourse.group/u/cstawarz)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493/5 "2015-09-10T17:48:40Z")
Hi Evan, I’ve added support for automatic data saving to MWClient. As of tonight’s nightly build, if you start an experiment without opening a data file first, one will be opened for you. The file will be named according to the template `username-experiment-date-time`, e.g. ``` cstawarz-matlab_window_demo-20150910-134336.mwk ``` This behavior is enabled by default, but you can disable it in MWClient’s preferences. Cheers, Chris ---
**Author:** ![cstawarz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/mworks.discourse.group/cstawarz/32/3_2.png) [@cstawarz](https://mworks.discourse.group/u/cstawarz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://mworks.discourse.group/t/automatic-data-file-naming-and-stream-starting/493/6 "2022-07-19T22:14:58Z")