Arch Linux

mrbug

Member

Registered: 2007-07-17

Posts: 221

renaming large files

Could someone help me to create a script (or oneliner) that will perform this operation for a directory of files?

mv "first file.ext" "first file(word).exe"

(where the "word" part can vary)

In other words, I need to rename a file to a similarly named file that has another word in parentheses at the end (but before the extension). That word varies depending on when the file was created, so I can't just do something like "mv file.ext file(new).ext", unforunately. These filenames also have spaces.

Thanks in advance for any help!

---

dvdtube - download all uploads from a YouTube user and then optionally create a DVD.
(Regular version AUR link / SVN version AUR link)

robmaloy

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2008-05-14

Posts: 263

Re: renaming large files

cd into your dir and do the following:

ADD_TEXT="add this text"
EXT=.asdf 
for file in *$EXT; 
do mv "$file" "$(basename "$file" $EXT)${ADD_TEXT}${EXT}"; done

---

☃ Snowman ☃

Procyon

Member

Registered: 2008-05-07

Posts: 1,819

Re: renaming large files

mmv is perfect for this job
mmv '*.*' '#1newtext.#2' would do I believe.

EDIT: forgot the dot in the second argument

Last edited by Procyon (2008-11-26 16:31:08)

perbh

Member

From: Republic of Texas

Registered: 2005-03-04

Posts: 765

Re: renaming large files

mmv ??
Where do I find that? ('which mmv' yields zilch - and it's not a packet or group)

Vladislav IV

Member

Registered: 2008-06-23

Posts: 30

Re: renaming large files

You can find it in AUR.

Bebo

Member

From: Göteborg, Sweden

Registered: 2006-06-07

Posts: 207

Re: renaming large files

Check out the rename command too. May not be useful here, though...

brisbin33

Member

From: boston, ma

Registered: 2008-07-24

Posts: 1,799

Website

Re: renaming large files

i've fallin in love with rename; i'm not sure i fully understand what you're going for but maybe this'll get you in the right direction

$ ls
file1.exe file2.exe file3.exe
$ rename .exe \(word\).exe *.exe
$ ls
file1(word).exe file2(word).exe file3(word).exe
$

EDIT: now i see what you going for...

as per here:
linux does not *normally* store creation dates/times... there's a myriad of ways to find 'last-modified' type information which could be passed to a variable within your script.

i'd try this, can't test right now so you'll have to tweak i'm sure...

# usage commandname [directory to act on]

if [ -z $1 ];then 
    echo Give target directory; 
    exit 0;
fi

find "$1" -name '*.exe' | while read file ; do
   mod=[command to get your "word" variable] $file
   newname=$(echo "$file" | sed s/.exe/\("$mod"\).exe/g)
   mv $file $newname
   echo ""$file" changed to -> "$newname"" # for debugging
done

exit 0

Last edited by brisbin33 (2008-11-26 17:53:51)

---

//github/

fukawi2

Ex-Administratorino

From: .vic.au

Registered: 2007-09-28

Posts: 6,231

Website

Re: renaming large files

If it doesn't have to be command line based... Have a look at KRename...

---

Are you familiar with our Forum Rules, and How To Ask Questions The Smart Way?

BlueHackers // fscanary // resticctl

mrbug

Member

Registered: 2007-07-17

Posts: 221

Re: renaming large files

Ah.. Thanks, everyone. basename and krename were the missing links!

---

dvdtube - download all uploads from a YouTube user and then optionally create a DVD.
(Regular version AUR link / SVN version AUR link)