Bash - Remove multiple brackets and text inside it from filename

Springs · 03-08-2018, 12:14 PM

Hi all,

I have regular files renamed by a program which i can't alter the output of to correct my issue.

The output adds brackets "()" around the date it adds which i want to remove.

Now i'm currently using the following to remove them myself but when it comes across a file with 2 sets of brackets in the name it removes all the text between the first and second set of brackets.

Code:

for file in $to_watch/*; do mv "$file" "${file/ (*)/}"; done

so when this runs on a filename with a two sets of brackets it removes the text like the following example.

FROM: filename (2010) something (2).ext
TO: filename.ext

any ideas how i can get it to remove the two sets of brackets and keep the text between the two?

keefaz · 03-08-2018, 12:24 PM

Do you have the ' rename ' command installed in your system?

Code:

rename --version

BW-userx · 03-08-2018, 02:12 PM

heres something
tested

Code:

userx@slackwhere101:~/changename
$ ls
myscrewyfile(1234)hello(2).tx


$ myfile=$(ls .) ; bo=${myfile//(} ; do=${bo//)} ; mv $myfile $do


$ ls
myscrewyfile1234hello2.tx

keefaz · 03-08-2018, 03:53 PM

Or you could enable extglob to do pattern list match

Code:

shopt -s extglob
for file in $to_watch/*; do mv "$file" "${file//+(\(|\))}"; done

Springs · 03-15-2018, 04:23 AM

thanks guys, will test when i can. my machines died at the moment so can't fully test.

BudiKusasi · 03-15-2018, 05:02 AM

Code:

for file in $to_watch/*; do mv "$file" "${file// \(*\)/}"; done

twice the slash in order to do glob

keefaz · 03-15-2018, 07:21 AM

That will remove text between the parentheses