How to use Rename to append sequenced numbers

[ontracanoer]

Is there a way to use the Rename method (or maybe some other tool) such that you can rename a selection of files where the new name has prefixed or postfixed a number incremented with each rename? For example, I would like to rename:

abc.txt
defgh.txt
i.txt

to:

1-abc.txt
2-defgh.txt
3-i.txt

Thanks.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Use the FileSystemObject in a vbScript. Create a text file named "Rename.vbs" and copy in the following

Option Explicit

Dim fso, oFolder, oFile, iCount
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

iCount = 0
Set oFolder = fso.GetFolder(fso.GetAbsolutePathName("."))
For Each oFile In oFolder.Files
    If oFile.Name <> "Rename.vbs" Then
        iCount = iCount + 1    
        oFile.Name = iCount & "-" & oFile.Name
    End If
Next
Set oFile = Nothing
Set oFolder = Nothing
Set fso = Nothing

Drop the file into your folder and double-click on it to execute it.

[Seeker]

Thanks for this.

Instead of:

oFile.Name = iCount & "-" & oFile.Name

will this work?

oFile.Name = oFolder.Name & ".jpg"

(obviously I'm preferring to grab the folder naming structure and placing it into the filename itself)

[Michael Bulgrien]

To recursively rename files (including in subfolders), you can start with this:

Option Explicit

Dim fso, oFolder, oSubFolder, oFile, sPath
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

sPath = fso.GetFolder(fso.GetAbsolutePathName(".")) + "\"
RenameFiles(sPath)

Sub RenameFiles(Path)
    Dim FolderPath
    FolderPath = Path
    Set oFolder = fso.GetFolder(FolderPath)
    For Each oFile In oFolder.Files
        If oFile.Path <> sPath + "Rename.vbs" Then
           oFile.Name = oFolder.Name & "_" & oFile.Name
        End If
    Next
    For Each oSubFolder In oFolder.Subfolders
        RenameFiles(oSubFolder.Path)
    Next
End Sub

Set oFile = Nothing
Set oSubFolder = Nothing
Set oFolder = Nothing
Set fso = Nothing

[Michael Bulgrien]

will this work?

oFile.Name = oFolder.Name & ".jpg"

Yes, you can use just the folder name so long as you are only renaming a single file in each subfolder and know that the file is a .jpg image file. It's a little dangerous, though, as it would rename any file format to .jpg even if it was something else...

Also, if the same subfolder exists under more than one tree, you would still have duplicate file names...unless you renamed the file based on the relative path from the root folder as follows:

NewName = Replace(Mid(oFile.Path, Len(sPath) + 1), "\", "_")
If oFile.Name <> NewName Then oFile.Name = NewName

[Michael Bulgrien]

Using the second vbScript as a starting point, you can do most anything you want with it.

Instead of:

If oFile.Path <> sPath + "Rename.vbs" Then

You could say:

If oFile.Name = "Folder.jpg" Then

Or:

Select Case oFile.Type

Case "GIF Image", "JPG Image", "PNG Image", "Text Document"

End Select

(with your action coded under the case statement)
File Types would need to match what shows up for the file type in Windows Explorer.

[ontracanoer]

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping there was something built into BC3 to do this

[snidely.too]

I don't see anything pertinent in the help file for Regular Expression Renames, although renaming "common" portions of filenames is pretty straightforward. Michael Bulgrien posted a screencast link about renames recently.

ACDSee's 10 Photomanager product (and older versions at least back to 5.0) does provide the feature you want with their batch rename rules, and so does BRU (Bulk Rename Utility). The last one is free, IIRC, but I'm a heavy ACDSee user, so I was more than willing to purchase that.

Perhaps Aaron or Chris can add an enumerator option. I've tried attaching a screenshot of Photomanager's dialog showing one type of usage.

/dps