Naming AXVW View Files

The following guidelines should be observed when naming new AXVW view files:

  • Digits . View files should begin with a letter. ab-my-view-01.axvw is a valid view file name, but 01-ab-my-view.axvw is not.
  • Lower case . View files are by convention all lower case. This is so that the same view file can be used on Windows and Linux operating systems with no subtle issues involving differences in case. For example, on Linux abMyView.axvw and abMyview.axvw are two different file names; on Windows operating systems, they are considered the same.
  • Uniqueness . Web view file names should be unique in all subfolders. Archibus will search all subfolders according to the file category order listed in your configuration ( \WEB-INF\config\context\compatibility\afm-config . xml ). Archibus will stop when it finds the first matching file name, and then it will cache that file in memory for faster reloading. As such, only one file of the same name will every be loaded, even if there are other files with the same name in other subfolders. Another good practice is to include in the file name an abbreviation for the application and process, as per the product files. To search for duplicate AXVW filenames, use the System Administration > Add-In Manager / Find Files with Duplicate Filenames task.
  • Length . There is no Archibus-imposed limit on the length of a view name. However, the Windows NTFS file system has a limitation of 255 characters for the file name and the path. Moreover, different application servers will expand the view file name to a longer format when Archibus  uses their facilities to compile views. The practical result is that there is a conventional limit to the Archibus portion of the view path of 45 characters (i.e. the portion that begins beneath the Archibus domain, e.g. \schema\ab-products\solutions\charts\parts ). There is also a conventional limit of 80 characters for an Archibus view name. If you are deploying only on Linux servers, there is no such limitation.
  • Special characters . Do not include the following characters in your view name:
    ' ` _ " ( ) [ ] { } ! ? @ # > < *

Naming Conventions

Application developers and add-in managers should use a consistent naming convention for application view names. The established convention as described below.

All files should begin with "ab-" (for Archibus; Applications developed by add-in managers should use their own different two letter prefix) followed by:

  • An abbreviation for the domain such as "rplm-".
  • An abbreviation for the application such as "lsadmin-" (for "lease administration")
  • An abbreviation for the process such as "rcbl-" (for "receivables")
  • An abbreviation for the task such as "ac-rcbl-dtls" (for "accounts receivable details")
  • If needed, an abbreviation for the function that the file serves in a larger multi-part view


All view files that are called from the Navigator should contain the verb and the object that the Navigator uses. For example, the task "Assign Procedures to Equipment or Location" should begin with "ab-pm-asgn-procs-".

All report view files should contain "rpt-" part, and should follow closely the task name in the Navigator.

All javascript files should be named exactly as their corresponding views are named, but with the ".js" extension in place of the ".axvw".

File name sizes are limited. Therefore, you should abbreviate words whenever possible. Here are some abbreviations that should be used:

  • Analysis - anls
  • Assign - asgn
  • Availability - avail
  • Craftsperson(s) - cf
  • Define - def
  • Equipment - eq
  • Forecast - frcst
  • Generate - gen
  • Parts - pt
  • Preventive maintenance - pm
  • Procedures - procs
  • Report(s) - rpt
  • Schedule(s) - sched
  • Trade(s) - tr
  • Vendor(s) - vn
  • Work orders - wo
  • Work requests - wr
  • Workload - wkld


Example views should begin with "ab-ex-".

Test views should begin with "ab-test-".