file rename + syntax

pattonb

struggling with renaming 35k files. they all have a '~' at the end of the name, ie. blahblah.xls~, blahblah.docx~, etc.

I thought rename would do the job, but I have something incorrect with the syntax, or I don't know what I am doing.
The files are in many sub directories, all differing in depth. I tried the following, any suggestions ?

find . -iname ".~" | rename -n 's/.~$//' . mmm

weird, the window wasn't showing the last part of the command, so I added the 'm', so the '.' would show up ignore the m's

but no action. sigh

DustinB3403

I wrote a powershell script which would pull stupid characters out of file names. Let me find it.

DustinB3403

Here ya go

(Get-ChildItem -Path "G:\Some-Folder" -Recurse | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name -replace '•','' -replace '®','' -replace '™','' -replace '','' -replace '','' -replace '~','' -replace '$','' -replace '','' -replace '','' -replace '','' -replace '/','' -replace '|','-'} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -ErrorVariable daError) if ($daError.Exception.Message -match " Source and destination path must be different.") { Write-Output "ERROR - There was an error. Pay Attention : [$daError]" }

Just delete all of the other replace,'box' and just leave one with the tilde.

Obviously YMMV and no warranty is implied.

pattonb

@DustinB3403 thanks, but this is on a linux server.

DustinB3403

@pattonb said in file rename + syntax:

@DustinB3403 thanks, but this is on a linux server.

doh.

Well crap. here I thought I had that solution.

pattonb

@pattonb if need be I could transfer the files, ( about 50gb), but would rather not.

pattonb

@pattonb it is a solution, and I appreciate the input, and I just may, if the frustration gets too high.
thank you

DustinB3403

@pattonb said in file rename + syntax:

@pattonb if need be I could transfer the files, ( about 50gb), but would rather not.

Have you looked at this?

pattonb

@DustinB3403 I looked at similar. I had to do this a few years back and saved the command lines, then I started 'boning' up again, (today), I thought I had it. but obviously, I did something wrong. I was taking the easy route ( so I thought). The brain isn't working as well as I want today. LOL

DustinB3403

@pattonb said in file rename + syntax:

@DustinB3403 I looked at similar. I had to do this a few years back and saved the command lines, then I started 'boning' up again, (today), I thought I had it. but obviously, I did something wrong. I was taking the easy route ( so I thought). The brain isn't working as well as I want today. LOL

It is daylight savings, so no harm. My brain is shot too.

pattonb

@DustinB3403 I just may transfer to a windows box, and use your script, just for the powershell experience.
I will let you know. thanks again

Grey

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-core-on-linux?view=powershell-7

pattonb

@Grey interesting, Has anybody tried it ? It seems to me that powershell syntax is much longer than linux,
my powershell knowledge is quite limited, but may not stay that way........

thank you

Grey

@pattonb said in file rename + syntax:

@Grey interesting, Has anybody tried it ? It seems to me that powershell syntax is much longer than linux,
my powershell knowledge is quite limited, but may not stay that way........

thank you

I used it. In fact, I had a similar situation to yours on a linux box and I knew the answer in pwsh terms, but not sh. So, I installed, performed my action and got on with life.

You might ask the @climagic guy on twitter for a linux solution or check out climagic.org for the archives.

pattonb

@Grey where does the destination path go from the above script by DustinB3403

Grey

@pattonb said in file rename + syntax:

@Grey where does the destination path go from the above script by DustinB3403

There is none. He's using rename-item. It's a direct rename.

Get-ChildItem -Path "G:\Some-Folder" -Recurse

This part searches a folder a subdirectories to create all the file objects for enumeration.

| Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name -replace '•','' -replace '®','' -replace '™','' -replace '','' -replace '','' -replace '~','' -replace '$','' -replace '','' -replace '','' -replace '','' -replace '/','' -replace '|','-'}

Pipe the list of files to the rename cmdlet that has the -newname function, which acts on the list of -replacements.

The rest handles errors. The parens encaps it to work as a single command line, with error handling.

pattonb

@DustinB3403 I went to a windows box, had some errors, sorted all of them except this one. I put in the command I used.
any assistance is greatly appreciated.

the error message first
At line:1 char:154

... '-'} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -ErrorVariable daError) if ($daErr ...

~~

Unexpected token 'if' in expression or statement.
+ CategoryInfo : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnexpectedToken

and the command I used is,

(Get-ChildItem -Path "D:\bradford_temp" -Recurse | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.Name -replace '~','-'} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -ErrorVariable daError) if ($daError.Exception.Message -match " Source and destination path must be different.") { Write-Output "ERROR - There was an error. Pay Attention : [$daError]" }

stacksofplates

@pattonb said in file rename + syntax:

@DustinB3403 thanks, but this is on a linux server.

Is this a Fedora derivative? If so you need prename not just rename.

This should work:

find . -name "*~" -exec prename -n 's/~$//' {} \;

pattonb

@stacksofplates

works exactly as intended, my sincere appreciation.. Now I have to try and understand, the syntax
and what I missed. All I had to do was change prename to rename ( Debian distro)
thanks, kindly