[SOLVED] How do I rename files/folders recursively using a simple script?

ixcel87 · 07-10-2012, 11:13 AM

I need to rename files (mp3 files) and subdirectories, removing the apostrophe from both. Currently I am using the rename command however it does not rename any of my subdirectories.

sudo rename "s/'*//g" *

I have thousands of files which need renaming with hundreds of subdirectories.

Can someone please show me a simple way to rename files/folders recursively in unix?

Thanks in advance!

eantoranz · 07-10-2012, 11:27 AM

Perhaps find could help you?

man find

ixcel87 · 07-10-2012, 02:22 PM

Thanks eantoranz.

I did the following and it appears to work:

sudo find . -name "*'*" | rename "s/'*//g"

Before I run this on my file system, can you think of anything that can go wrong with the command above?

sag47 · 07-10-2012, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixcel87

Thanks eantoranz.

I did the following and it appears to work:

sudo find . -name "*'*" | rename "s/'*//g"

Before I run this on my file system, can you think of anything that can go wrong with the command above?

The potential of spaces not being handled correctly. Might be better to utilize exec in find as it will pass the whole file as an argument rather than leaving it up to bash.

Code:

find . -name "*'*" -exec rename "s/'*//g" {} \;

ixcel87 · 07-10-2012, 03:16 PM

Thanks sag47.

Works like a charm, although I have to run it twice!

David the H. · 07-11-2012, 11:02 AM

You should probably add the -depth option to the command, so that it processes files before the directories that contain them.