Mass Renaming Files

SlowCoder · 03-15-2010, 08:32 PM

I have a batch of files that have the following pattern:
[variable length name] # ABC.ABC
[variable length name] can be anything, that need to remain unchanged.

I need to mass rename all of these files to remove the " # ABC" portion.
I've been trying to work with perl expressions but guess I haven't gotten it right. Could use some help.
Here are some of the patterns I've tried:
# rename 's/ # ABC\.ABC$/\.ABC/ *.ABC'
# rename 's/. # ABC$/ /' *.ABC
... and a various other attempts.

Ideas / hints?

frieza · 03-15-2010, 08:34 PM

not sure the exact syntax but you could try reading the file into an array, loping through the array and performing the rename operation on the array elements

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-15-2010, 09:09 PM

Not sure I exactly understand what your real filenames are, but this may help you get it to work:

Code:

sasha@reactor: touch "blah #ABC"
sasha@reactor: ls
blah\ #ABC
sasha@reactor: touch "blaRG #ABC"
sasha@reactor: touch "blooper #ABC"
sasha@reactor: 
sasha@reactor: 
sasha@reactor: 
sasha@reactor: ls
blaRG\ #ABC  blah\ #ABC  blooper\ #ABC

sasha@reactor: find ./ -name "*#ABC"
./blooper #ABC
./blaRG #ABC
./blah #ABC

sasha@reactor: find ./ -name "*#ABC" | while read file; do                              
> mv "$file" "$(echo "$file" | sed 's/ #ABC//')"; done
`./blooper #ABC' -> `./blooper'
`./blaRG #ABC' -> `./blaRG'
`./blah #ABC' -> `./blah'
sasha@reactor: ls
blaRG  blah  blooper

Sasha

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-15-2010, 09:18 PM

PS - If you're using Bash4 (I don't know if 3.x can do it) you can do this without the sed, just by using shell variable substitution; I haven't played with that much yet (I'm stuck in my ways) so didn't suggest it; other members are more versed in the newer shell features and can give you better advice on that when they come around (or you can check out the bash man page).

Cheers

Sasha

H_TeXMeX_H · 03-16-2010, 03:43 AM

The 'rename' command may come in handy here, I think, but I still don't get the exact nature of the problem. Maybe a few examples of input and output would help.

SlowCoder · 03-16-2010, 01:39 PM

(I'm replying with my cell, so grammar may be problematic.)

I am using 'rename'. I cited examples in my first post, but here are more filename examples:
My file # 123.ABC
Your file # 123.ABC
Note the ' # 123' is what I need to remove. I need to keep the .ABC at the end.

H_TeXMeX_H · 03-16-2010, 02:04 PM

Ok, try:

Code:

rename "#ABC" "" *

or

Code:

rename "#123" "" *

that's it.

SlowCoder · 03-16-2010, 04:12 PM

H_TexMex_H ...
I hate you for very willingly pointing out my obvious stupidity.
I love you because you helped me past my obvious stupidity.

It worked like a champ!

And some creds for GrapefruitGirl, too! I've not done too much scripting, so you reminded me of what I can do with the bash shell.

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-16-2010, 04:19 PM

At least you got what you needed accomplished

by whichever means.

Honestly, I should look into simpler means of doing things sometimes -- but what the heck, the more ways we have to choose from, the better!

Best regards,
Sasha

P.S> there was another thread within the last few weeks, where someone was trying to use `rename` and it became apparent that `rename` may or may not exist on some machines, and may or may not be the SAME `rename` as it is on other machines. Just something to keep in mind, in case it one day doesn't work on some machine you happen to be using.

ghostdog74 · 03-16-2010, 10:47 PM

If you have Python 2.4++, you can try this script. example usage

Code:

$ ls -1
i want file anem here # ABC.DEF
[variable length name] # ABC.ABC

$  filerenamer.py -p "(.*)\s+\#\s+ABC\.(.*)$" -e "\1.\2" -l "*#*"
==>>>>  [ /home/[variable length name] # ABC.ABC ]==>[ /home/[variable length name].ABC ]
==>>>>  [ /home/i want file anem here # ABC.DEF ]==>[ /home/i want file anem here.DEF ]

remove the "-l" option to commit changes