# Custom name column to remove middle of filename?
**URL:** https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-name-column-to-remove-middle-of-filename/35438
**Category:** Help & Support
**Created:** [May 6, 2020, 10:15am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-name-column-to-remove-middle-of-filename/35438 "2020-05-06T10:15:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ms310](https://resource.dopus.com/u/ms310)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2020, 10:15am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-name-column-to-remove-middle-of-filename/35438/1 "2020-05-06T10:15:43Z")
I’d like to know if there is a way to create a custom name column that removes a number of characters from the middle the file names.
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### Author:  [@Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/u/Leo)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2020, 10:40am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-name-column-to-remove-middle-of-filename/35438/2 "2020-05-06T10:40:43Z")
One of the Regular Expressions column scripts will let you do that.
e.g. This one has a nice UI for setting up the columns:
> [@Column - Custom Text and Regexp](https://resource.dopus.com/t/column-custom-text-and-regexp/18727/1):
>
> This script adds support for creating custom columns using regexp against the file name and path. The columns are configured using a dialog, with all Dopus column types and custom column settings being supported. Example output The first column are …
This one has a long tutorial written about it:
> [@RegexColumnsReloaded (easily add regex columns or any kind of column)](https://resource.dopus.com/t/regexcolumnsreloaded-easily-add-regex-columns-or-any-kind-of-column/20799/1):
>
> There have been several regex column scripts in the past year. I was first wow'ed by this feature when I came across wowbagger's script. Since then, I have been experimenting with columns and writing several scripts to suit my needs. At the risk of …
A third option (may also have a config UI; I'm not sure):
> [@RegExColumns V2](https://resource.dopus.com/t/regexcolumns-v2/19530/1):
>
> Overview This is a new Version of my [RegExColumns Script](https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-column-custom-text-v1-2/18727/1) using the multi line script config for the RegExColumns Definition. There is no need to edit the actual script anymore. Installation Open Preferences / Toolbars / Scripts, then download Reg…
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### Author:  [@ms310](https://resource.dopus.com/u/ms310)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2020, 11:36am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-name-column-to-remove-middle-of-filename/35438/3 "2020-05-06T11:36:39Z")
Thanks. These look promising. I was hoping to preserve the ICON - it looks like these are great solutions for re-purposing the text of existing columns, which is very cool. I was hoping to apply a regex to the built in Name column to remove some number of middle characters. Thanks for pointing me in this direction.
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### Author:  [@Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/u/Leo)
#### Post date: [May 6, 2020, 11:39am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/custom-name-column-to-remove-middle-of-filename/35438/4 "2020-05-06T11:39:23Z")
The actual name column can't be changed, other than optionally removing the file extension from it.
(At least without writing a VFS Plugin, which would be very complicated.)