Python version support: CPython 2.6, 2.7, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and PyPy.
$ pip install nametrans
$ nametransThe simplest use is just a straight search and replace. All the files in the current directory will be tried to see if they match the search string.
$ nametrans.py "apple" "orange"
* I like apple.jpg -> I like orange.jpg
* pineapple.jpg -> pineorange.jpg
* The best apples.jpg -> The best oranges.jpg
Rename 3 files? [y/N]Matching against strings with different case is easy.
$ nametrans.py -i "pine" "wood"
* pineapple.jpg -> woodapple.jpg
* Pinetree.jpg -> woodtree.jpg
Rename 3 files? [y/N]The search string is actually a regular expression. If you use characters that have a special meaning in regular expressions then set the literal option and it will do a standard search and replace. (If you don't know what regular expressions are, just use this option always and you'll be fine.)
$ nametrans.py --lit "(1)" "1"
* funny picture (1).jpg -> funny picture 1.jpg
Rename 1 files? [y/N]If you prefer the spelling "oranje" instead of "orange" you can replace the G with a J. This will also match the extension ".jpg", however. So in a case like this set the root option to consider only the root of the filename for matching.
$ nametrans.py --root "g" "j"
* I like orange.jpg -> I like oranje.jpg
* pineorange.jpg -> pineoranje.jpg
* The best oranges.jpg -> The best oranjes.jpg
Rename 3 files? [y/N]Short of specific cases of transforms, there are some general options that have to do with maintaining consistency in filenames that can apply to many scenarios.
The neat option tries to make filenames neater by capitalizing words and removing characters that are typically noise. It also does some simple sanity checks like removing spaces or underscores at the ends of the name.
$ nametrans.py --neat
* _funny___picture_(1).jpg -> Funny - Picture (1).jpg
* i like apple.jpg -> I Like Apple.jpg
* i like peach.jpg -> I Like Peach.jpg
* pineapple.jpg -> Pineapple.jpg
* the best apples.jpg -> The Best Apples.jpg
Rename 5 files? [y/N]If you prefer lowercase, here is the option for you.
$ nametrans.py --lower
* Funny - Picture (1).jpg -> funny - picture (1).jpg
* I Like Apple.jpg -> i like apple.jpg
* I Like Peach.JPG -> i like peach.jpg
* Pineapple.jpg -> pineapple.jpg
* The Best Apples.jpg -> the best apples.jpg
Rename 5 files? [y/N]If you want the result of neat and then lowercase, just set them both. (If you
like underscores instead of spaces, also set --under.)
Assuming the files are named consistently you can throw them into separate directories by changing some character into the path separator.
Note: On Windows, the path separator is \ and you may have to write it
as \\\\.
$ nametrans.py " - " "/"
* france - nice - seaside.jpg -> france/nice/seaside.jpg
* italy - rome.jpg -> italy/rome.jpg
Rename 2 files? [y/N]The inverse operation is to flatten the entire directory tree so that all the files are put in the current directory. The empty directories are removed.
$ nametrans.py --flatten
* france/nice/seaside.jpg -> france - nice - seaside.jpg
* italy/rome.jpg -> italy - rome.jpg
Rename 2 files? [y/N]In general, the recursive option will take all files found recursively and make them available for substitutions. It can be combined with other options to do the same thing recursively as would otherwise happen in a single directory.
$ nametrans.py -r --neat
* france/nice/seaside.jpg -> France/Nice/Seaside.jpg
* italy/rome.jpg -> Italy/Rome.jpg
Rename 2 files? [y/N]In recursive mode the whole path will be matched against. You can make sure the
matching only happens against the file part of the path with --files or only
the directory part with --dirs.
Sometimes filenames carry no useful information and serve only to maintain them in a specific order. The typical case is pictures from your camera that have meaningless sequential names, often with gaps in the sequence where you have deleted some pictures that didn't turn out well. In this case you might want to just use the name of the directory to rename all the files sequentially.
$ nametrans.py -r --dirname
* rome/DSC00001.jpg -> rome/rome 1.jpg
* rome/DSC00007.jpg -> rome/rome 2.jpg
* rome/DSC00037.jpg -> rome/rome 3.jpg
* rome/DSC00039.jpg -> rome/rome 4.jpg
Rename 4 files? [y/N]Still in the area of sequential names, at times the numbers have either too few leading zeros to be sorted correctly or too many unnecessary zeros. With this option you can specify how many leading zeros you want (and if you don't say how many, it will find out on its own).
$ nametrans.py -r --renseq 1:3
* rome/1.jpg -> rome/001.jpg
* rome/7.jpg -> rome/007.jpg
* rome/14.jpg -> rome/014.jpg
* rome/18.jpg -> rome/018.jpg
* rome/123.jpg -> rome/123.jpg
Rename 5 files? [y/N]The argument required here means field:width, so in a name like:
series14_angle3_shot045.jpg
the number 045 can be shortened to 45 with 3:2 (third field from
the beginning) or -1:2 (first field from the end).