# NHGIS Shapefiles names (Metadata vs. Workflow Exp)

**URL:** https://forum.ipums.org/t/nhgis-shapefiles-names-metadata-vs-workflow-exp/3337
**Category:** IPUMS API
**Created:** [January 27, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/nhgis-shapefiles-names-metadata-vs-workflow-exp/3337 "2020-01-27T02:28:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Brian\_Cultice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brian\_Cultice](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Brian_Cultice)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/nhgis-shapefiles-names-metadata-vs-workflow-exp/3337/1 "2020-01-27T02:28:37Z")

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Hello! I have a quick question regarding the naming conventions for shapefiles; in the metadata, shapefiles have a naming structure along the lines of `'geog_extent'_'geog_level'_'year'_'basis'`. However, the workflow example has a different naming structure.

What is the correct naming structure for POSTing data requests for shapefiles?

Thank you!

BC

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### Author: ![grover](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/grover/32/5_2.png) [@grover](https://forum.ipums.org/u/grover)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/nhgis-shapefiles-names-metadata-vs-workflow-exp/3337/2 "2020-01-27T19:56:45Z")

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It appears that the developer documentation [here](https://developer.ipums.org/docs/workflows/create_extracts/nhgis_data/) failed to update with the previous release of the API. The shapefiles page [here](https://developer.ipums.org/docs/workflows/explore_metadata/nhgis/shapefiles/) does correctly indicate the naming structure, which matches the metadata. The documentation is being updated now and should reflect the change shortly.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention!