Simple rename

Post by **nikos** » 2012 Sep 28, 06:34

you didn't reply to what i've asked: rename applies to whole name (including extension) or not?

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2012 Sep 28, 06:59

Renaming utilities almost always have settled on the convention of having a checkbox somewhere on the main dialog which simply determines whether extensions are to be considered as inclusive or not. Usually the default is "not", but you have to supply the choice, obviously.

It obviously can get much more complex when people then start wanting things like "extensions only", and so on, which is when these utilities point you to their inbuilt scripting engines and narayan's eyes begin to glaze over.

The reason an astrophysics degree comes in handy is because mass renaming seems like such a simple thing on the surface but dig a little deeper (where the whole point of it doth lay) and things can get hellishly complex very quickly - and that's even without the headache of RegEx rearing its head.

Post by **nikos** » 2012 Sep 28, 07:14

we are rolling down the path of increased complexity...
anyway, assuming we do add a tickbox for filename/extension, what if the 'from' regexp doesn't match the complete filename?

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » 2012 Sep 28, 07:28

This is why, as narayan pointed out above, the x2 dialog has an insufficient display area - a constantly updating "before and after" display gives users the immediate ability to "tweak" the RegEx (or any other rules) to accommodate the unexpected, or even to discard the rule for individual items if necessary.

Disclaimer: If you really want to mess with this stuff, I'm absolutely positive narayan will be only too happy to point out how each and every little thing "should" be implemented, until you start throwing very heavy objects at him

and - unsurprisingly - you end up with ReNamer ReImagined in the hundredth iteration. Do you not think there's a reason these lads spend years working/reworking/debugging nothing but renaming routines? Ergonomics is the least of your worries.

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2012 Sep 28, 07:37

RegEx has an expression. Let the user decide whether to include extension. (ReNamer has a "include extension" checkbox for ALL rules).

FrizzleFry · Post by **FrizzleFry** » 2012 Sep 28, 10:09

Most renamers have a checkbox to choose if the rename action should include the file extension... seems that would be a simple and clear way to handle that...

I agree with narayan that the preview pane should show all files affected so the dialog needs to be resizable and that we should have backreference tokens.

FrizzleFry · Post by **FrizzleFry** » 2012 Sep 28, 10:18

nikos wrote:we are rolling down the path of increased complexity...
anyway, assuming we do add a tickbox for filename/extension, what if the 'from' regexp doesn't match the complete filename?

the re would usually not match the full file or base name, just the part that you want to change/replace...

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2012 Sep 28, 10:53

I am not clear about the question:

Normally the find-relacement is done in text. Here we are doing it in names.
But for a moment imagine that the Folder/Scrap pane is in List mode, and we are looking at page of text (which contains one file name per line).

Now if we use RegEx to "find" all text that matches a pattern, what should we expect?

Well, I expect the matching string to be picked and changed into the "replace with" string. The remaining part will remain unchanged.

In fact, mostly the RegEx expression would match only a part of the name (unless the user deliberately composes the expression to match the whole name).

*****
BTW the search MUST keep looking for all matches for the pattern.

In some engines, the search looks for the first match, and then looks for more instances of that particular string only. It will skip the other possible matches. This is not acceptable.

Disc Golfer · Post by **Disc Golfer** » 2012 Sep 28, 14:55

I think I made a mistake when I titled it "rename". I think I confused the request.

There's a great program called Tag&Rename I have been using for MP3 for years. With a click I can change just one or multiple files names to:

ALL UPPER CASE
all lower case
Sentence case
Title Case

also "An_Underscore_File_name" to "An Underscore File name"

The problem is that Tag&Rename only works on MP3. I has happy to see that Directory Opus had this feature built in, one click with no rules to write.

With me being slightly OCD... when I download books or writings I change the titles to be all uniform before coping to my reader.

So my wish is for a EASY filename case changer/underscore remover.

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2012 Sep 28, 15:35

The following is not easy to set up, but easy to keep using afterward.

ReNamer allows you to create your custom-made stack of rules. You can use the same rule multiple times also.

Finally save the entire stack as a preset. Renamer automatically assigns a shortcut to it (starting CTRL+1).

You can reload the preset with its shortcut.

If you want to load the preset every time you launch ReNamer, add it to your user command as an argument. (refer to ReNamer wiki).

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2012 Oct 04, 02:20

I forgot to mention two Usability-related needs-

In a RegEx name change, there are some special circumstances that the application has to handle:

1. Not all selected match the RegEx pattern. Therefore the GUI must indicate which files have matched, (e.g. by showing a tick against the name).

Secondly, the GUI must also point out which particular PART of the name is matched (e.g. by using red letters for the matched string).

Also highlight the replaced part (Reason: it may be using RegEx tokens, in which case each file name will change uniquely. So if the user sees the changed part highlighted, he can check it out quickly.

2. The preview GUI must show ALL files (regardless of whether they are slated to be changed). If you show only the files that match the RegEx pattern, the user will get disoriented.

ReNamer provides an excellent example of these techniques.

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2012 Oct 04, 02:31

Here's an example of fuzzy duplicates.

Post by **nikos** » 2012 Oct 04, 10:45

this is mea culpa!

narayan · Post by **narayan** » 2012 Oct 05, 01:35

Oh thank the Lord! We have our good old Nikos back!

For a while I was worried!

RightPaddock · Post by **RightPaddock** » 2012 Oct 14, 10:01

Disc Golfer wrote:I tried xplorer2, xyplorer and directory opus and bought xplorer2. One feature I like with directory opus is a simpler file renamer with a one click change case etc.... I especially like changing underscores to spaces option. Is there this feature in xplorer2?

BTW one of the deciding feature for this program is the double click to move up a level... love it.

@Disc Golfer -

This does most of what you want, except replace '_' with ' '
http://www.febooti.com/products/filetweak/members/case/

I've been using it for years, its free

CFi's Shelltoys will also do most of what you want - including replace '_' with ' ', but it ain't free

My 2 €'s on enhancing X2's rename - I use 4 'file system' renamers - BRU, Febooti, Shelltoys, and X2 and the rename facilties in- FastPictureViewer for images and Calibre for eBooks - I would not expect X2 or any other file manager to cover all those bases.

@Disk Golfer - have you considered using Calibre to manage your Ebook Library, its free, highly functional and is under continuous development. Well worth the (un)learning curve. Has a very helpful user community. Bug fixes and small enhancements are typically done within 2 weeks - with early release to the 'initiator'. Runs on Windows, OS/X & Linux - supports dozens of eBook readers and formats.