Trying to rename folders recursively using find and replace

Help & Support
1

hi thanks for reading my thread.

i am using version 8.2.1.0 U.

i have created a button that i hoped would find and replace folder names recursively but i can't make it work.

here is what i do have

Rename FINDREP PATTERN="Disc1" TO "Side a" TYPE=dirs
Rename FINDREP PATTERN="Disc2" TO "Side b" TYPE=dirs

with this button i have to highlight each folder individually and then press the button. it works okay if i highlight one folder at a time but if i highlight two then press the button up pops the rename box and i have to click ok.

  1. can you help me with my working button? how do you stop the rename box popping up? when i made a button for deleting my temp files i used the quiet/s option and this suppressed a dialog box, is there something similar for rename?

  2. ideally i want to do everything recursively so that i only need to select one folder and click my button can anybody help me to get the recurse option working?

thanks again for taking the time to read my post :question:

2

I don't quite follow what you are trying to do but if you simplify your button command to this it works for me.

Rename "Disc1" TO "Side a" TYPE=dirs
Rename "Disc2" TO "Side b" TYPE=dirs

3

thanks JohnZeman that simplification suppresses the rename dialog.

i'm afraid i still cannot get it to work recursively.

any other help?

4

I don't quite understand what you mean when you say recursively.

5

this feature allows you to rename every single sub folder within the chosen folder.

this allows you to choose 1 folder and rename thousands of sub folders

without a recurse option you would have to select every single one of these thousands of sub folders and then rename them

6

Maybe the RECURSE flag would help?

7

thanks for your sarcasm jon but i did try that. i tried the RECURSE flag in every conceivable position in the rename but it doesn't work.

someone just informed me that the new version out 31st March has a bug fix for this very problem

8

I don't think Jon meant to be sarcastic :slight_smile:, the recurse flag wasn't in the examples above so he suggested it.

Anyway, is it working now with the 31st March version? I think you used to have to use a wildcard pattern (even if you didn't really want/need one) to rename more than one item, which I guess is what has been fixed. (I've not read the change log yet; totally lost in TES4: Oblivion at the moment!)

(Edit: Didn't see mention of this in the 31st March change log, but maybe it was fixed in an interim version, or just isn't listed. Or I'm confused. I do remember it being brought up a while ago, though and hopefully it's fixed now, either way.)

(Edit2: If it isn't fixed, you should be able to make things work by turning the "from" expression into a pattern. e.g. Just stick a * on the end of it, assuming that's safe (i.e. nothing unwanted will match as a result of the *).)

9

sorry jon and nudel.

i should have been clearer.

i'm a little frustrated, i've been trying to get this one button working for a week :imp:

it looks like the bug was with FTP -
FTP: Fixed problem with recursive rename failure to detect correct folder.

i've downloaded the new version and i still can't make it work. :frowning:
i'm going to sulk now and look at it again later

10

Hmmm... it seems like I remember thinking that RECURSE was broken in the internal command set? Unless I don't understand how to use it properly...

11

i'm still stumped. if i open the advanced rename dialog i can rename files recursively but there does not seem to be an option to change folder names.

if i make a button using the raw rename command i can rename folders that i have highlighted but can't get it to work recursively.

12

thanks to everybody who replied.

i got a reply from directory opus support, it looks like i'll have to wait for a new version to fix my problem.

The TYPE parameter for the Rename command does not currently operate recursively - it affects only top-level items. When using the RECURSE switch, all items inside sub-folders will be renamed - both files and folders.

[i]I will add a feature request for an improvement to this in a future version.
Regards,
Jonathan Potter

GP Software[/i]

13

It's more work than a one-click button but for now you could use Flat Mode, then select the folders (or filter away all files and select-all), then click the rename button.

14

thanks nudel, i'll try that

15

[quote="ethereal"]thanks to everybody who replied.

i got a reply from directory opus support, it looks like i'll have to wait for a new version to fix my problem.

The TYPE parameter for the Rename command does not currently operate recursively - it affects only top-level items. When using the RECURSE switch, all items inside sub-folders will be renamed - both files and folders.

[i]I will add a feature request for an improvement to this in a future version.
Regards,
Jonathan Potter

GP Software[/i][/quote]

Sorry to reanimate this topic but i have exactly the same problem now and it seems the RECURSE flag still doesn't work on sub-FOLDERS ..
Is there a way to make recursive replace on folders and files ?

Thanks