rename only replaces the first instance of the target string

RandomTroll · 04-07-2018, 11:55 PM

I sometimes download a bunch of files that have spaces in their names. I hate spaces in file names. So I try to remove the spaces with:

Code:

 rename " " "" TargetFiles

but this removes only the first instance of a space in each name. I know I can write a short script:

Code:

for file in TargetFiles
do
NewName=`echo $file | tr -d ' '`
mv $file $NewName
done

but I'm lazy. Should rename change all instances? Whom would I ask?

AnanthaP · 04-08-2018, 12:10 AM

I expect that it needs a proper substitution format with the g prefix like s/\ //g.
The g prefix for global as opposed to just one substitution.

OK

Turbocapitalist · 04-08-2018, 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnanthaP

I expect that it needs a proper substitution format with the g prefix like s/\ //g.
The g prefix for global as opposed to just one substitution.

OK

Yes that's the one you want. Watch out though. There is also a weak, unuseful utility with the same name. The real rename that works and is worth your time is based on perl's File::Rename module:

[code]
$ rename -V
/usr/bin/rename using File::Rename version 0.20
[/code

So you'd just use any normal perl expression that you'd like.

Code:

rename -n 's/ /_/g;' somefiles

Because you can use any perl expressions you can even use it for complex renames, such as renumbering a sequence or reformatting numbers in file names.