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Old 09-27-2007, 11:12 AM   #1
clem_c_rock
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Cannot replace spaces w/ underscores


Hello,
I'm desperately trying to replace some files w/ spaces in the names w/ underscores.

I ran this command in a directory: rename " " _ *\ * and it worked like a charm on every file except this one:

MissMarieBand_Oh_No!_Not Again.wmv

I then tried to take to remove the spaces w/ this: rename "s/ *//g" *.mov

and it still ignores this file.

Is there any way I can get around this?

Thanks,
Clem
 
Old 09-27-2007, 11:30 AM   #2
matthewg42
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The *.mov in the command you specified:
Code:
rename "s/ *//g" *.mov
Means the command will only apply to files which end in ".mov", so it should not work on one ending in ".wmv", like the one you named.
 
Old 09-27-2007, 11:32 AM   #3
tredegar
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I think the problem is the "!" in the filename - it shouldn't be there.
 
Old 09-27-2007, 11:33 AM   #4
pixellany
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Quote:
rename " " _ *\ *
I don't see what the syntax of this is.


This:
Quote:
rename "s/ *//g" *.mov
operates on all files ending in ".mov", but yours ends in ".wmv" Also, it only replaces 2 or more occurences of " ". Try 's/ //g'
 
Old 09-27-2007, 11:41 AM   #5
tredegar
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For example:
Code:
tg@vaio:~$ touch "MissMarieBand_Oh_No!_Not Again.wmv"
bash: !_Not: event not found
tg@vaio:~$ touch "MissMarieBand_Oh_No\!_Not Again.wmv"
tg@vaio:~$ ls Miss*
MissMarieBand_Oh_No\!_Not Again.wmv
So get rid of the "!"
Edit: Like this:
Code:
tg@vaio:~$ mv MissMarieBand_Oh_No\!_Not\ Again.wmv   MissMarieBand_Oh_No_Not_Again.wmv
/Edit

Last edited by tredegar; 09-27-2007 at 11:55 AM.
 
Old 09-27-2007, 11:54 AM   #6
rsashok
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Try this, it worked on my pc:
mv MissMarieBand_Oh_No\!\ Again.wmv MissMarieBand_Oh_No\!_Again.wmw

I hope it is a good song.
 
Old 09-27-2007, 11:56 AM   #7
pixellany
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I oopsed---"*" means ZERO or more instances of the previous expression. Here is the para from "man regex"

A piece is an atom possibly followed by a single(!) `*', `+', `?', or
bound. An atom followed by `*' matches a sequence of 0 or more matches
of the atom. An atom followed by `+' matches a sequence of 1 or more
matches of the atom. An atom followed by `?' matches a sequence of 0
or 1 matches of the atom.

And, yes, ANY special character in a filename is bad news....
 
Old 09-27-2007, 01:17 PM   #8
clem_c_rock
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Great - thanks for all the feedback. I am a command line tard for sure.

This did the trick for me:

mv MissMarieBand_Oh_No\!_Not\ Again.wmv MissMarieBand_Oh_No_Not_Again.wmv
 
  


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