Rename panel - start with empty "Find" box

Help & Support
1

By default the 'Find'-box in the rename panel shows a filename, in case of multiple files, the first one.
Is is possible to start out with an empty box?

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2

This will open the Rename dialog in Find and Replace mode with the Replace field empty:

rename findrep advanced
3

Ehm... I am not sure, maybe I doing something wrong.
No changes with me.

The toolbar button was reading Rename PRESET=findrep ADVANCED
(Settings->Customize Toolbar->Rightclick button->Edit)

but changing it to : rename findrep advanced made no difference.

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4

Not sure why it wouldn't work there, but you could try this which is a bit more explicit:

rename findrep advanced to=""

The to="" part isn't needed here, however.

5

Sorry, still the same.
Also tried a few other 'combinations' that were showing up at Google's site:resource.dopus.com "Rename PRESET=findrep ADVANCED"
but none of them worked.

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6

Are you using 12.3.3? That's what I'm trying with.

7

Hint: opw62 is referring to the "Find" field in the dialog and Leo is referring to the "Replace" field in the dialog.

8

That makes sense now. I thought the screenshot was what was desired, not what was happening already.

I'm not sure there is a way to start with the Find field blank. However, as soon as you open the Rename dialog (if set to select the Find field initially), or as soon as you select the field (e.g. with tab or shift-tab; if set to select the To field initially), the whole string will be selected so as soon as you start typing it will be replaced with whatever you type.

You can't do a Find & Replace starting from an empty string (it doesn't make sense to), so you would always need to type into the Find field whatever you were doing. (You can do a Find & Replace to an empty string, but not from one.)

9

Thanks DesertDwart - indeed I meant the 'Find' box - to start out with an empty one.

@Leo, thanks. All clear. Just thought it would be an option somewhere that I might have been overlooking. No problem.
BTW and just for your info - the background of my question was that I was seeking a way to avoid the mistake that I made the other day:
whilst I doing a rename of a list of files, cutting away/trimming nn characters (tagged "Use preview list to build macros"), I accidentally forgot to remove the name in the find field. Whilst scrolling down, the 1st name got 'off-screen', so after the rename all that was left of the 1st file was the extension. It wasn't too difficult to restore the old name in this case..., but then again, it could have been. An empty 'Find'-box would have avoided that (or a warning, as it is rather unusual to rename a file to just an extension).

Anyway .. again, it was my mistake.

10

That makes sense! There's something to be said for having to fill everything out explicitly and getting an error if you forget something, rather than defaults.

I think the way it works now is to help when you want to find & replace a big chunk of the name(s). It lets you trim Find field to keep the bits you want to find, without having to re-type a long or fiddly string.

A Rename argument to force the first field to be blank might make sense, although I think we are a bit weary of this as there are some complex interactions between the old/new name fields in the Rename dialog and all the different modes it can be switched into, as well as people's existing presets which depend on old behavior. This is more Jon's department than mine, so it's possible it's also a really simple thing we can add, but also possible it might be a really complex change even though it's simple conceptually.