best way to rename files

graphicsmanx1 · 12-04-2012, 02:31 PM

I wanted to redo my files on my server. What would be the best way to take the existing names and put them in column A of a spreadsheet and in column B will be the desired name. I asked a question about echoing and was suggested awk but Im unsure what its called or where to.

markush · 12-04-2012, 03:57 PM

For example

Code:

ls | sed '/./p'

would work.

But are you sure that it wouldn't be better to rename the files with a shellscript? Could you please explain how you want to rename the files? do you have an example?

Markus

Sergei Steshenko · 12-04-2012, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graphicsmanx1

I wanted to redo my files on my server. What would be the best way to take the existing names and put them in column A of a spreadsheet and in column B will be the desired name. I asked a question about echoing and was suggested awk but Im unsure what its called or where to.

And what does a spreadsheet application have to do with renaming files ?

graphicsmanx1 · 12-04-2012, 04:57 PM

well I have a bunch of files that are .psds and other formats but I wanted to pull the names in a .xls file and then place them in column A and in column B would be the output. The spreadsheet was just an idea of a way to store the needed name changes.

Old
Goes in column A
1. design.psd
2. invoice.xml
3. proof.pdf
4. template.ai

New
Goes in column B
1. date_client_design.psd
2. date_client_invoice.xml
3. client_proof.pdf
4. project_template.ai

Just an example trying to organize my workflow

Sergei Steshenko · 12-04-2012, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graphicsmanx1

well I have a bunch of files that are .psds and other formats but I wanted to pull the names in a .xls file and then place them in column A and in column B would be the output. The spreadsheet was just an idea of a way to store the needed name changes.

Old
Goes in column A
1. design.psd
2. invoice.xml
3. proof.pdf
4. template.ai

New
Goes in column B
1. date_client_design.psd
2. date_client_invoice.xml
3. client_proof.pdf
4. project_template.ai

Just an example trying to organize my workflow

It doesn't answer my question. I.e. I still do not understand what a spreadsheet application has to do with file renaming.

There is an application called 'rename': http://linux.die.net/man/1/rename . The application is, of course, based on 'rename' system call: http://www.manpagez.com/man/2/rename/ .

There are scripting languages which have wrappers around the system call, e.g.: http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/rename.html .

So, again, what does a spreadsheet application have to do with file renaming ?

...

A mandatory car analogy: suppose you need to burn 1 liter of gasoline. Do you necessarily need to buy a car, fill the tank and ride until the 1 liter of gasoline is consumed ?

graphicsmanx1 · 12-04-2012, 05:16 PM

think you're over examining the purpose of the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was a means to be able to identify the ending goal of the file naming convention. If another way could be recommended I would use it. I was suggesting the spreadsheet because I would record the current name in one column and in the other column the name goal within the same row so why not use it? I have used rename but how can you securely rename a large number of files without having to worry about any issues??

Quote:

A mandatory car analogy: suppose you need to burn 1 liter of gasoline. Do you necessarily need to buy a car, fill the tank and ride until the 1 liter of gasoline is consumed?

no I already own a scooter and it can get me farther and since I currently USE the scooter why do I need to buy a car or use another means of transportation? lol.

markush · 12-04-2012, 05:26 PM

I've once written a little perlscript, I called it rename.pl and it resides in /usr/local/bin on my computer

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict ;
use warnings ;
use File::Copy ;

my ($from, $to, $in) = @ARGV ;

opendir THISDIR, "." ;
my @files = readdir THISDIR ;
my ( $old, $new ) ;
foreach $old ( @files ) {
        next if $old !~ /$in/ ;
        $new = $old ;
        $new =~ s/$from/$to/ ;
        my $subst = $1 ;
        $new =~ s/\$1/$subst/ ;
        next if $old eq $new ;
        if ( -e $new ) {
            print "file $new exists, cannot overwrite\n" ;
        }
        move ( $old, $new ) ;
}

I haven't used it for some month

but you try out how it works and if you can use it. Other than the rename tool it can handle wildcards for digits and numbers. Also it will not overwrite an existing filename.

Markus

graphicsmanx1 · 12-04-2012, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markush

I've once written a little perlscript, I called it rename.pl and it resides in /usr/local/bin on my computer

Code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict ;
use warnings ;
use File::Copy ;

my ($from, $to, $in) = @ARGV ;

opendir THISDIR, "." ;
my @files = readdir THISDIR ;
my ( $old, $new ) ;
foreach $old ( @files ) {
        next if $old !~ /$in/ ;
        $new = $old ;
        $new =~ s/$from/$to/ ;
        my $subst = $1 ;
        $new =~ s/\$1/$subst/ ;
        next if $old eq $new ;
        if ( -e $new ) {
            print "file $new exists, cannot overwrite\n" ;
        }
        move ( $old, $new ) ;
}

I haven't used it for some month

but you try out how it works and if you can use it. Other than the rename tool it can handle wildcards for digits and numbers. Also it will not overwrite an existing filename.

Markus

thanks for the script but I wanted to learn how to do my own. Only way I seem to learn from trial and error.

markush · 12-04-2012, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graphicsmanx1

thanks for the script but I wanted to learn how to do my own. Only way I seem to learn from trial and error.

That's a very good idea, good luck, I'm curious which solution you'll find.

Markus

Sergei Steshenko · 12-04-2012, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graphicsmanx1

... I was suggesting the spreadsheet because I would record the current name in one column and in the other column the name goal within the same row so why not use it? ...

Look at the "column" word and ask yourself a question: "will anything change if instead of column I use row ?".

The answer is no, and that alone makes spreadsheet irrelevant for the task - exactly because it introduces redundant for the task entities: columns (or rows). Remember Occam's razor: "Don't create entities beyond the necessary.

frieza · 12-04-2012, 06:44 PM

i presume what you are attempting to do is automatically generate a list of files in a certain directory into column A, then use a spreadsheet program and manually input new names for the file into column B, then run a script that parses the file and performs the name changes from column A to B?

perhaps the word 'spreadsheet' should be substituted for 'CSV file', which can be
opened and edited in a spreadsheet program, as well as parsed by a shell script.

since you said you wanted to build your own i would look into
for next loops in bash
sed
cut
mv

a simple renaming script (this example moves files with extension JPG to jpg) might look like

Code:

#!/bin/bash
for file in *.JPG #list all the files named .JPG
do #begin loop
filename_raw =`echo $file | cut -f1 -d.` #cut off the file extension
mv $file $filename_raw.jpg move the original file name to the new extension
done #end loop

your script would replace the *.JPG with the output of running CAT on your file, and the cut would be cutting each row on the ,
then use sed to remove the " (unless you saved the CSV without quotes)

graphicsmanx1 · 12-05-2012, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frieza

i presume what you are attempting to do is automatically generate a list of files in a certain directory into column A, then use a spreadsheet program and manually input new names for the file into column B, then run a script that parses the file and performs the name changes from column A to B?

perhaps the word 'spreadsheet' should be substituted for 'CSV file', which can be
opened and edited in a spreadsheet program, as well as parsed by a shell script.

since you said you wanted to build your own i would look into
for next loops in bash
sed
cut
mv

a simple renaming script (this example moves files with extension JPG to jpg) might look like

Code:

#!/bin/bash
for file in *.JPG #list all the files named .JPG
do #begin loop
filename_raw =`echo $file | cut -f1 -d.` #cut off the file extension
mv $file $filename_raw.jpg move the original file name to the new extension
done #end loop

your script would replace the *.JPG with the output of running CAT on your file, and the cut would be cutting each row on the ,
then use sed to remove the " (unless you saved the CSV without quotes)

thank you

Sergei Steshenko · 12-05-2012, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graphicsmanx1

thank you

I do not see a spreadsheet in the proposed solution. Am I missing something obvious ?

markush · 12-06-2012, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sergei Steshenko

... Am I missing something obvious ?

I understood that the OP needs the spreadsheet for the overview and to decide which new filenames to use. So the spreadsheet is not directly included when the files once are renamed.

Markus

Sergei Steshenko · 12-06-2012, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markush

I understood that the OP needs the spreadsheet for the overview and to decide which new filenames to use. So the spreadsheet is not directly included when the files once are renamed.

Markus

I do not know OP's line of thinking. Anyway, in order to review and change, if necessary, some text there is a simple and dedicated class of tools - called "text editors".