[SOLVED] Mass renaming directories

chris_crunch · 02-23-2016, 09:40 AM

Hehe, hi it's me again...

So I have a load of directories which I've accidently put .tar on the end of them.

Code:

n01443537.tar  n01828970.tar  n02093859.tar  n02115913.tar  n02480495.tar  n02879718.tar  n03272562.tar  n03710637.tar  n03961711.tar  n04310018.tar  n04599235.tar
n01484850.tar  n01829413.tar

So the above are directories...

I would like to rename all of them to remove the .tar extension. Has anyone got any ideas of how to do this?

[there's a LOT of them]

MensaWater · 02-23-2016, 10:05 AM

cd to the top level directory you want (e.g. /, /root, /usr)

Run:

Code:

for dir in $(find . -type d -name "*.tar")
do parentdir=$(dirname $dir)
   olddir=$(basename $dir)
   newdir=$(echo $olddir |sed -e s/.tar//)
   echo "Renaming $olddir to $newdir in $parentdir"
   mv ${parentdir}/$olddir ${parentdir}/$newdir
done

Note that the sed would remove any occurrence of .tar in the directory name so if you had a directory like ralph.tar.billybon.tar it would change that to ralphbillybob. One assumes you don't have names like that but if you do you'd have to modify the sed to only do the one at end of line.

The above only changes directories and not valid files with .tar extensions due to the initial find command.

suicidaleggroll · 02-23-2016, 10:10 AM

Only thing I'd change in MensaWater's answer is the string replace. Echoing and piping to sed is a bit cumbersome when it can be done natively in bash

Code:

newdir=${olddir/.tar/}

Also some places in the script will break if there are any spaces in the path. If that's the case, it will need to be tweaked a bit.

TB0ne · 02-23-2016, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris_crunch

Hehe, hi it's me again...
So I have a load of directories which I've accidently put .tar on the end of them.

Code:

n01443537.tar  n01828970.tar  n02093859.tar  n02115913.tar  n02480495.tar  n02879718.tar  n03272562.tar  n03710637.tar  n03961711.tar  n04310018.tar  n04599235.tar
n01484850.tar  n01829413.tar

So the above are directories...

So you have DIRECTORIES names as .tar FILES?

Quote:

I would like to rename all of them to remove the .tar extension. Has anyone got any ideas of how to do this? [there's a LOT of them]

Solutions have been provided...you may also want to look at the "rename" command. You don't say what/how you want to rename them TO, or give any details. Read the "Question Guidelines" link in my posting signature. Doing basic research first, before posting a question, is always a good thing...this is a recurring theme in many of your posts. Putting "linux rename many directories" into Google pulls up MANY examples.

chris_crunch · 02-23-2016, 10:19 AM

Brilliant, thank you

chris_crunch · 02-23-2016, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TB0ne

So you have DIRECTORIES names as .tar FILES?

Solutions have been provided...you may also want to look at the "rename" command. You don't say what/how you want to rename them TO, or give any details. Read the "Question Guidelines" link in my posting signature. Doing basic research first, before posting a question, is always a good thing...this is a recurring theme in many of your posts. Putting "linux rename many directories" into Google pulls up MANY examples.

Of course I did Google this first. But it was tricky to remove the .tar extension from the files- that was the bit I didn't understand. There are no examples of removing the end of the directory name, as far as I could understand.

And the provided solutions worked wonders. I didn't believe any other details were necessary.

TB0ne · 02-23-2016, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris_crunch

Of course I did Google this first. But it was tricky to remove the .tar extension from the files- that was the bit I didn't understand. There are no examples of removing the end of the directory name, as far as I could understand.

Removing the .tar extension would be part of the renaming process...since that would, obviously, involve changing the name. And again, putting the previously mentioned search-terms into Google pulled up many solutions to mass-rename things.

Quote:

And the provided solutions worked wonders. I didn't believe any other details were necessary.

Details are ALWAYS necessary...as a mathematician that should be self-evident.

hydrurga · 02-23-2016, 10:44 AM

If you ever fancy a GUI approach, I've found pyRenamer to be a useful wee utility.

To change directory names, remember to use View->Show Options and then select "Directories" in the options.

In this case, using Original file name pattern {X}.tar and Renamed file name pattern {1} gets the job done.

grail · 02-23-2016, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Of course I did Google this first. But it was tricky to remove the .tar extension from the files- that was the bit I didn't understand. There are no examples of removing the end of the directory name, as far as I could understand.

Not sure just how hard you searched. The following on google :- bash remove extension
Yielded this as its first link :- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9...ension-in-bash

And as far as I can tell, it tells you exactly how to remove the unwanted portion (just like suicidaleggroll's example)

MensaWater · 02-23-2016, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suicidaleggroll

Only thing I'd change ...

Code:

newdir=${olddir/.tar/}

Thanks - I haven't seen that usage before.

Code:

for dir in $(find . -type d -name "*.tar")
do parentdir=$(dirname $dir)
   olddir=$(basename $dir)
   #newdir=$(echo $olddir |sed -e s/.tar//)
   newdir=${olddir/.tar/}
   echo "Renaming $olddir to $newdir in $parentdir"
#   mv ${parentdir}/$olddir ${parentdir}/$newdir
done

MensaWater · 02-23-2016, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TB0ne

You don't say what/how you want to rename them TO

The OP's question seemed clear to me:

Quote:

would like to rename all of them to remove the .tar extension

He also made it clear he'd accidentally named them with the .tar extension.

There are two kinds of admins in the world. Those who have made mistakes and those who lie about having made mistakes.

TB0ne · 02-23-2016, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MensaWater

The OP's question seemed clear to me:
He also made it clear he'd accidentally named them with the .tar extension.

Very true, and I said as much. But I am always hesitant to ASSUME that's all, since the files seemed to follow some sort of naming convention, which (to me), said further renaming (such as n01828970.tar moving to N-01828970) may have been in order, which is why I asked.

Quote:

There are two kinds of admins in the world. Those who have made mistakes and those who lie about having made mistakes.

Indeed.

BW-userx · 02-23-2016, 03:03 PM

I just want to hear the story about how he ended up with a slue of directories with the ends named "*.tar"