It can also be useful when you download many files in one day and you wish to add the date to their titles, in order to easily find them. Similarly, you can rename a succession of files, so that they can be rendered automatically in the desired order, or if you wish to share official company files that need to feature a specific name. This is useful, for instance, when you upload tens of photos from your camera and you wish to change the default names given to the files. You may also remove selective characters from filenames, or replace certain letter strings with custom supported characters. Alternatively, you can add incremental numbers either at the beginning or at the ending of the filenames. Thus, you can type in the letters or words you wish to add as prefixes or suffixes. You can convert a filename to lowercase or uppercase lettering, but you can also add or remove characters or numbers. The newly renamed files take the place of the old ones, which is why they are saved at the same location as the input documents. The files are listed in the program’s interface on three columns: the original names, the new titles, as well as their path.
The software can rename a large number of files at once, and it supports any type of file, since it only changes their names. It can convert a filename to lower or uppercase lettering, add prefixes, suffixes or incremental numbers in the file title, remove characters or replace letters or words. The SETLOCAL makes the definition of fname temporary (local) to the batch file.FMS File Rename is a reliable and easy to use application capable of batch renaming your files. It doesn't matter if fname is already defined with the batch file. FOR variables must be referenced as %%A instead of %A, and %%fname%% is not expanded initially, instead the double percents are converted into single percents and then %fname% is expanded after the CALL. The rules for expansion are different in a batch file.
Or you can specify the full path to the batch file when you call it. The batch file will also have to be in your current directory unless the batch file exists in a directory that is in your PATH variable. The batch file will rename files in your current directory. Suppose you had files named like "prefixName.txt", then you would use the script by executing RemovePrefix "prefix" "*.txt" If you want to run the command again with a different prefix, you will have to first clear the definition again.ĮDIT - Here is a batch file named "RemovePrefix.bat" that does the job ::RemovePrefix.bat prefix off If fname is defined prior to running the command, then it will simply try to rename that same file for each iteration instead of the value that is being assigned within the loop. The CALL causes an extra expansion phase that occurs after the variable has been set, so the expansion works.
On the command line the percents are preserved if the variable is not found. Of course that won't work because it hasn't been defined yet.
The tricky thing is Windows first attempts to expand %fname% when the command is first parsed. The fname variable is defined for each iteration and then the syntax %fname:*prefix=% replaces the first occurrence of "prefix" with nothing. for %a in (prefix*.txt) do "fname=%a" & call ren "%fname%" "%fname:*prefix=%") It won't work properly if fname is already defined. Next is the command to actually do the renaming. But here is a solution that should work with most file names.Ĭritical - first you must make sure you have an undefined variable name, I'll use fname set "fname=" I don't understand why you can't use a batch file. You need the same number of / as the number of initial characters you would like to remove.ĭo place double quotes for both arguments. in order to get 1.txt, 2.txt, 3.txt simply use rename "abcd*.txt" "////*.txt" If you do not use it properly, the result might surprise you.įor example to remove a prefix abcd from abcd1.txt, abcd2.txt, abcd3.txt etc. Rename is a very old and never properly completed command. Forget about complicated scripts for this.