Rename or remove files in a directory using an editor.
If you want to rename files in a directory, things get really cumbersome if:
- the name modifications are not easily automatable (e.g. spelling mistakes)
- file names contain spaces / special characters (when using a shell)
- you have to rename a lot of files (when using a GUI)
- you would need to use temporary files (e.g.
mv a tmp ; mv b a ; mv tmp b) - etc.
This script launches a used-defined text editor with a temporary file, where every line is a filename in the directory. This enables the user to rename (edit a line) or delete (blank line) entries. After saving and exiting the editor, the script checks the file for consistency, detects rename loops and finally performs the changes.
| 3.0.0 | 2021-03-29 | Require Python 3.6 (no new features, just usage of "try ... from") |
| 2.1.0 | 2017-05-01 | Support renaming of intermediate dirs in recursive mode,
drop --safe mode, small bugfixes |
| 2.0.0 | 2017-03-22 | Bugfixes, Python 3 support, -o and -L option,
extensive test suite |
| 1.1 | 2010-11-21 | Bugfixes |
| 1.0 | 2010-05-06 | First working version |
Rename non-hidden files in the current directory:
dir_edit
Rename mp3 files in the music directory using gedit:
dir_edit -e gedit ~/Music ~/Music/*.mp3
Review changes before executing them:
dir_edit -vd -L log.txt view log.txt sh -e log.txt
Rename pictures with maximum directory depth 2:
find pics -maxdepth 2 -type f -iregex ".*\.\(jpg\|png\)" > file_list dir_edit -i file_list
dir_edit [OPTION]... [DIR] [FILES]... DIR directory to edit (default: current directory) FILES limit to these filenames (default: all non-hidden in directory) Some options: -e CMD, --editor=CMD use CMD to edit dirfile (default: $EDITOR or vi) -d, --dry-run don't perform any file system modifications -v, --verbose output filesystem modifications to stdout -L FILE, --logfile FILE path to logfile for verbose mode (default: stdout) -i FILE, --input FILE FILE containing paths to be edited
Copyright (C) 2010-2021 Johannes Weißl
License GPLv3+:
GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.