how do i remove a word from multiple file names?

steve51184 · 12-09-2009, 10:56 PM

hey all lets say i have some files with names like these:

Quote:

file.WordiWantToRemove.part1.rar
file.WordiWantToRemove.part2.rar
file.WordiWantToRemove.part3.rar

how would i go about removing the 'word' in the file names (or replace it) this is what i have so far but the quotes are wrong... ???

Code:

for files in *.rar; do mv “$files” `echo $files | tr ‘oldword‘ ‘newword’`; done

ramram29 · 12-09-2009, 11:04 PM

for files in `ls *.rar`; do mv $files `echo $files | sed s/oldword/newword/g`; done

steve51184 · 12-09-2009, 11:09 PM

perfect thanks for the quick reply

ghostdog74 · 12-09-2009, 11:15 PM

no need to use external commands. with bash

Code:

for file in *.rar; do echo mv "$file" "${file/Word/NewWord}"; done

steve51184 · 12-09-2009, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghostdog74

no need to use external commands. with bash

Code:

for file in *.rar; do echo mv "$file" "${file/Word/NewWord}"; done

that works just as well without the word 'echo' can you tell me why/if this is better then ramram29 method?

ghostdog74 · 12-09-2009, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve51184

that works just as well without the word 'echo' can you tell me why/if this is better then ramram29 method?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramram29

Code:

for files in `ls *.rar`
  do mv $files `echo $files | sed s/oldword/newword/g`
done

1) useless use of ls in the for loop. Also, it breaks on files with spaces. Use shell expansion instead.
2) using "|" and calling external commands creates extra overheads. The shell provides simple substitution, so try to use it whenever possible

GrapefruiTgirl · 12-10-2009, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghostdog74

no need to use external commands. with bash

Code:

for file in *.rar; do echo mv "$file" "${file/Word/NewWord}"; done

I have always done this with sed, like ramram did above. Yet again, something new learned today! And another reason bash is good

Thanks Ghostdog,

Sasha

evo2 · 12-10-2009, 12:09 AM

You have many answers, so I just thought I'd point out that the primary problem with your original attempt is that tr only replaces single characters.

Evo2.