Hack 24 Better File Rename
 
Rename multiple files quickly and
easily.
I hate to
admit it, but sometimes I'm impatient. Why should I
waste my time doing the same thing over and over again? If
you've ever had to rename more than one file at a
time, you know how foolish it is to have to click, pause, click
again, type the new name, hit Enter, and then repeat for
each file, just to rename them—especially if
there's some sort of pattern to what
you're doing. Unix expatriates will find this
procedure especially annoying after using powerful wildcards and
other Unix pattern-matching syntax. Better File Rename (well worth
the $15 shareware registration fee from http://www.publicspace.net/windows/BetterFileRename/)
does all you might imagine a file-renaming utility would do and more.
It's conveniently accessed via the context menu, a
right-click away from any group of selected files.
Figure 3-11 displays some of the options for
renaming files based on pattern or placement in the filename
(beginning or end of filename). For each pattern or placement option,
you get a powerful set of variables and settings to choose from so
that you can rename files in all sorts of ways, quickly and easily.
One of the ways to use this utility is to append a prefix to a list
of files that all belong to the same project but begin with entirely
different filenames (such as a list of figures for a book).
It's also especially useful for digital camera
owners who don't like the numerical or other
automatically generated names for your files. While you might
remember that a bunch of pictures with random numbers for filenames
are pictures of your daughter, appending her name to each filename in
one step with Better File Rename is easier than trying to remember
such details or doing the painfully slow click-and-rename dance for
each one. You can also change a whole list of filenames from upper-
to lowercase, and vice versa. The pattern-replacement and automatic
successive-numbering options are especially useful. Impatient control
freaks, rejoice!
—Nancy Kotary
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