# RFC: Use of +, ~, @; clarifying extend-the-end \[0234\] **URL:** \ **Category:** 22 Blog\ **Created:** [July 27, 2026, 6:13am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943 "2026-07-27T06:13:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jeff-LovettSundries](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/jeff-lovettsundries/32/1198_2.png) [@Jeff-LovettSundries](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Jeff-LovettSundries)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/21 "2026-07-31T19:19:10Z")
Software, Clients, & Vendors are the exact place I’ve decided to go with 3 digit ID for this reason. I really love having an succinct ID I can attach to each filename or email or document footer. It does break the 100 rule, but for these categories it’s been working great for me! Keeps things shallow, unique, & reference-able. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/22 "2026-07-31T23:24:03Z")
That’s where I should move my `14.32` – up to `23 Equipment & machines`. We envisaged that as a place for the sort of stuff you’ve got, but hey… this software is the equipment that keeps my business running. ---
**Author:** ![jan0sch](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f04885/32.png) [@jan0sch](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/jan0sch)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 7:58am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/23 "2026-08-11T07:58:37Z")
Just something that immediatley popped up for me: I would refrain from using the tilde `~` character in dir/file names because that might lead to issues on the command line. AFAIK most shells expand it automatically to the user’s home directory path. ---
**Author:** ![clappingcactus](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/clappingcactus/32/502_2.png) [@clappingcactus](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/clappingcactus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/24 "2026-08-11T21:08:54Z")
I’ve looked into this before and found the three [POSIX-compliant portable special characters](https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/V1_chap03.html#tag_03_282) “.”, “\_”, and “-”. Now Windows/Mac/Linux all have tons of overlapping special character allowances, but only those 3 characters are guaranteed to be permanently acceptable in file names across all operating systems and environments. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/25 "2026-08-12T03:37:28Z")
They do, but only at the start of a path – this one is always embedded between characters, so won’t be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 3:38am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/26 "2026-08-12T03:38:13Z")
Because indeed, if you limit yourself to only the strictly-never-cause-a-problem characters, there’s not much left! Even `.` can cause problems. You may not end a Windows filename with a period. And of course if you start a \*nix filename with one, it ends up hidden. ---
**Author:** ![aviskase](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/aviskase/32/591_2.png) [@aviskase](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/aviskase)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/27 "2026-08-12T16:21:32Z")
So, FYI, after spending a good hour writing my first response here we had a good discord discussion and _I completely changed my notation_, lol. I got simpler. The only symbol I still use is `@` for in-filename tags. So it’s for country codes, people, and rare _very common_ things across the system like `@OPS` and `@Checklist`. All index and normal notes are deeply nested in the Obsidian, thus, I use id only in the index note. For quick search and linking I use these tricks: - `12.23/ blahblah` to search for some note inside known id. More often I use `12./ blahblah` because I usually know category but forgot id - `12/12. blahblah` to search for index note. Keeping dot is important to surface index notes on top. And here is an example tree ```auto ├── 10-19 Life admin │ ├── 10 Management of area 10-19 │ │ ├── 10.00 JDex │ │ │ └── 10.00 JDex.md │ │ ├── 10.01 Inbox │ │ │ └── 10.01 Inbox.md │ ├── 11 Me & other living things ... │ │ ├── 11.22 Health insurance & claims │ │ │ ├── 11.22 Health insurance & claims.md │ │ │ ├── 2018 XXX.md │ │ │ ├── 2018 YYY.md │ │ │ └── 2024 ZZZ.md │ │ ├── 11.23 Primary care │ │ │ ├── 11.23 Primary care.md │ │ │ ├── Acetaminophen dosage for children.md │ │ │ ├── @AA Primary care.md │ │ │ └── @BB Primary care.md │ │ ├── 11.24 Eyes, ears, & teeth │ │ │ ├── 11.24 Eyes, ears, & teeth.md │ │ │ └── @MK Eyes, ears, & teeth.md ``` To make it a bit easier to use and add an eye candy I installed Notebook Navigator. The main reason for this approach: it’s just more obvious for someone who never used JD. No special notation and notes are close to the place they relates to. ![image](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/uploads/default/original/2X/0/06ccc06dce6aa7ba0e32cf6348d3756c3df9d34e.png) ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/28 "2026-08-13T02:59:33Z")
There is a simplicity here that I really like… ---
**Author:** ![njmatch3](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecb155/32.png) [@njmatch3](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/njmatch3)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/29 "2026-08-13T13:24:32Z")
Got it. I am an academic so yes, can have lots of notes. Often these have a natural structure/hierarchy, e.g lecture notes for a class. So I am sticking with folders. I share Ontologist’s instinct for separating metadata from content. I use folder notes so it’s easy scan my structure to find the next available ID when creating a new “thing” vs the folder in which to add detail to an existing thing. ---
**Author:** ![njmatch3](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/ecb155/32.png) [@njmatch3](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/njmatch3)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:27pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943/30 "2026-08-13T13:27:54Z")
Love this search tip! [Previous page](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/rfc-use-of-clarifying-extend-the-end-0234/2943.md?page=1)