OFQ-00016 Naming Conventions
Last updated: 20 November 2025
Naming conventions provide clear meaning and consistency throughout the Ofqual Azure environments, subscriptions and solutions.
They enable easy and quick identification of purpose and usage.
Requirement(s)
Azure Resources
Below is the naming convention that MUST be observed when deploying resources to the Ofqual Azure subscriptions.
When naming an Azure resource, follow the format below:
{Organisation}{Owner}-{Environment}-{Solution}-{ResourceType}{Instance}
| Aspect |
Description |
Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation |
Organisation name |
ofq (Ofqual) |
| Owner |
Code of the team or group responsible for the product |
ds (Data Service) |
| Environment |
The purpose and name of each environment. |
dev (Development environment) test (Test environment) prod (Production environment) |
| Solution/ Product |
The code of the solution or product the resources are supporting. |
md (AO Portal Master Data) dp (Data Portal) dw (Data Warehouse) di (Data Importer) |
| Resource Type |
Code of the Azure resource type or service. |
rg (Resource Group) sql (Azure SQL Database) s (Azure SQL Server) vm (Virtual Machine) kv (Key Vault) df (Data Factory) sa (Storage Account) … |
| Instance |
Instance number, should more than one instance be required. (zero padded) |
01, 02, 03, … |
Examples:
| ofqds-dev-md-sql01 |
An Azure SQL database (sql01) for the Master Data solution (md) in the Development environment (dev). |
|---|---|
| ofqds-prod-dp-s01 |
An Azure SQL server (hosting databases) (s01) for the Data Portal solution (dp) in the Production environment (prod). |
| ofqdsdevdlsa01 |
An Azure Storage Account (sa01) for the Data Lake solution (dl) in the Development environment (dev). Note: storage accounts don’t allow hyphens, so they are omitted. |
| ofqds-prod-dp-vm01 |
A Virtual Machine (vm01) for the Data Portal solution (dp) in the Production environment (prod). |
| ofqds-dev-dp-rg01 |
A Resource Group (rg01) for the Data Portal (dp) solution in the Development environment (dev). |
Service Principal Names:
Below is the naming convention that MUST be used when requesting a new Service Principal (an AAD account) for application level access to resources across the network.
{Organisation}{Owner}-spn-{Solution}
e.g.
ofqds-spn-DataImporter
| Aspect |
Description |
Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation |
Organisation name |
ofq (Ofqual) |
| Owner |
Code of the team or group responsible for the product |
ds (Data Service) |
| Solution/ Product |
The name of the solution or product the resources are supporting. |
DataPortal DataImporter DataMart DataWarehouse |
SQL Database Objects:
Below is the naming convention that MUST be used against all objects within a SQL database.
| Object Type |
Example |
Description |
|---|---|---|
| Schema |
MD_Staging (Master Database Staging) MD_Config (Master Master Configuration) |
The schema the SQL object belongs to. |
| Grouping |
Ref (Reference) Cfg (Configuration) |
A meaningful abbreviation to group certain object within a schema. |
| Object Type |
T (Table) ST (Staging Table) V (View) TF (Table-Valued Function) SP (Stored Procedure) |
An abbreviation of the type of object. |
| Object_Name |
TransformColumnMapping |
The name of the table. This should be as short but descriptive as possible. |
When naming a database object follow the format shown below:
{Schema}.{Grouping}{Object Type}
E.g.MD_Staging.Ref_ST_AddressTypes
Azure Data Factory Objects:
Below is a naming convention that MUST be used for all objects within an Azure Data Factory.
For the (type) and (subtype), see the second and third tables.
| Object |
Prefix |
Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Linked Service |
LS_(type)_ |
LS_SQLDB_name |
| Integration Runtime |
IR_ |
|
| Shared Integration Runtime |
SIR_ |
|
| Pipeline |
PL_ |
|
| Dataset |
DS_(type)_(subtype) |
DS_ADLS_CSV_name |
| Dataflow |
DF_ |
|
| Trigger |
TR_ |
| Type (for Linked Services and Datasets) |
Acronym |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Blob Storage |
BLOB |
|
| Azure Data Lake Storage |
ADLS |
|
| Azure Data Lake Storage (Gen2) |
ADLSG2 |
|
| Azure Cosmos DB |
COS |
|
| Azure File Storage |
AFILE |
Is an SMB File Share |
| Azure SQL Database |
SQLDB |
|
| SQL Server |
SQLVM |
|
| Azure SQL Database Managed Instance |
SQLMI |
|
| FTP |
FTP |
|
| File System |
FILE |
Is an SMB File Share |
| HTTP |
HTTP |
|
| REST |
REST |
|
| SharePoint Online List |
SHP |
| SubType (for Datasets) |
Acronym |
|---|---|
| Avro |
AVRO |
| Binary |
BIN |
| Delimited Text |
CSV, PSV, TSV, TXT |
| Excel |
XLS |
| JSON |
JSON |
| ORC |
ORC |
| Parquet |
PAR |
| XML |
XML |
Activities within a Pipeline should observe the following naming convention:
| Category |
Activity |
Prefix |
Example(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move & Transform |
Copy Data |
CP_ |
|
| Move & Transform |
Data Flow |
DF_ |
|
| Azure Function |
Function |
AZF_ |
|
| Batch Service |
Custom |
CST_ |
|
| Databricks |
Notebook |
DBRN_ |
|
| Databricks |
JAR |
DBRJ_ |
|
| Databricks |
Python |
DBRP_ |
|
| Data Lake Analytics |
U-SQL |
USQL_ |
|
| General |
Append Variable |
AVAR_ |
|
| General |
Delete |
DEL_ |
|
| General |
Execute Pipeline |
EXPL_ |
|
| General |
Execute SSIS Package |
EXSSIS_ |
|
| General |
Get Metadata |
GMD_ |
|
| General |
Lookup |
LK_ |
|
| General |
Stored Procedure |
SP_ |
|
| General |
Set Variable |
SVAR_ |
|
| General |
Validation |
VLD_ |
|
| General |
Web |
WEB_ |
|
| General |
WebHook |
WHK_ |
|
| General |
Wait |
WT_ |
|
| HDInsight |
Hive |
HDHV_ |
|
| HDInsight |
MapReduce |
HDMR_ |
|
| HDInsight |
Pig |
HDPG_ |
|
| HDInsight |
Spark |
HDSP_ |
|
| HDInsight |
Streaming |
HDST_ |
|
| Iteration & Conditionals |
Filter |
FLTR_ |
|
| Iteration & Conditionals |
For Each |
FE_ |
|
| Iteration & Conditionals |
If Condition |
IF_ |
|
| Iteration & Conditionals |
Switch |
SW_ |
|
| Iteration & Conditionals |
Until |
UN_ |
|
| Machine Learning |
Batch Execution |
MLBE_ |
|
| Machine Learning |
Update Resource |
MLUR_ |
|
| Machine Learning |
Execute Pipeline |
MLEP_ |
Azure Key Vault:
Naming convention that MUST be used when storing secrets within Key Vault (environment optional):
scrt-{SecretType}-{SecretDescription}-{SecretSubType}-{Environment}
Note: environment optional e.g.
scrt-SQL-DWAdmin-UserName-Dev
scrt-spn-DataImporter-UserName