The following sorting codes have been used in preparing the database to enable otherwise coherent groups of papers which are now dispersed through the archive to be brought together:
The suffixes COR, P and PHOT are used. These stand for Correspondence, Papers and Photographs respectively.
| EL | Early life (to 1914) |
| RN | Royal Navy (1914 onwards) |
| SACSEA | Papers as Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command |
| VI | Papers as Viceroy of India |
| GG | Papers as Governor General of India |