Can someone please tell me how to rename a group of folders, and if possible files in
Directory Opus so that they use sequential numbers, for example rename a group of folders or files to 001, 002, 003 etc.
If possible can you also please tell me how I can specify a number to start from, for example rename a group of folders starting 150 to 150, 151, 152, 153, etc and can you also please advise me how I can add some text before the numbers so that the files/folders are renamed to, for example ABC 001, ABC 002, ABC 003.
Opus makes this rather easy Steve. In the screen grab below I've selected both files and folders, and all will be renamed as indicated.
Notice the use of [#]
The [] brackets are required so # is not treated as a literal character and the character combination of [#] tells Opus the location you place that [#] is where you want the numbers to be placed in the names.
In my example I've started the sequential numbering at 0125 and increment the numbers by 1.
Thanks, John - that worked a treat. I don't know where I was going wrong.
Could you please explain how to rename just folders or just files ?
(I think I could just select which files/folders I want to rename in the lister but I was wondering if it is possible to include/exclude files/folders as necessary in the advanced rename dialog)
Files usually have an extension while folders usually don't so you can often cheat by including a . in the pattern.
You can also deselect all folders before starting the rename, of course. (Less obviously, you could do so as part of the rename button so it's automatic.)
For a scripted rename (i.e. when the dialog doesn't appear and everything is automatic) you can use the TYPE argument. I'm not sure whether this argument also works with the interactive dialog so I'd try it before depending on it.
For example, this command renames the selected files and folders in different ways:Rename PATTERN="*" TO="* - {date|yyyy-MM-dd} {time|HH-mm-ss}" AUTORENAME TYPE=dirs
Rename PATTERN="*.*" TO="* - {date|yyyy-MM-dd} {time|HH-mm-ss}.*" AUTORENAME TYPE=files
The first line will only be applied to folders and the second line will only be applied to files.
With folders it sticks the date and time on the end and if there's a . in the folder name then it's ignored and left where it is.
With files it finds adds the date and time before the last dot in the filename, so that the extension is preserved. (If the file doesn't have an extension -- i.e. no . -- then the command won't do anything to it.)
Steve to add to what Leo said, while I do have some specific buttons that perform some specific renaming tasks, in general I do the majority of my renaming the easy way. That is I only select what I want to rename, be it files or folders or both. After I've selected what I want, then I do the rename.
I only offer that as food for thought as I know it's very easy to get lost in the complexities of Opus when you're new to the program.
