Rename Command Examples (with Examples)

Use Case 1: Rename files using simple substitutions

Code

rename foo bar *

Motivation

This use case is helpful when you want to replace a specific string, such as ‘foo’, with another string, such as ‘bar’, in multiple filenames at once. It saves time and effort compared to manually renaming each file individually.

Explanation

The rename command is used with two arguments: the string to be replaced (foo) and the new string to replace it with (bar). The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that represents all files in the current directory. This command will find all occurrences of ‘foo’ in the filenames and replace them with ‘bar’.

Example Output

If you have files named file1.txt, file2.txt, and example.foo, running the rename foo bar * command will rename the files to file1.txt, file2.txt, and example.bar.

Use Case 2: Dry-run to display rename changes without performing them

Code

rename -vn foo bar *

Motivation

Sometimes it is useful to preview the changes that will be made before actually renaming the files. This allows you to verify that the renaming process will produce the expected results and avoid any unintended consequences.

Explanation

The -vn options are used in conjunction to perform a dry-run without performing any actual renaming. The -v option stands for verbose and displays a detailed output of the changes that would occur. The -n option stands for no action and prevents any renaming from taking place.

Example Output

When running the command rename -vn foo bar *, the output will display each file that would be renamed and the corresponding changes. For example:

'file1.txt' would be renamed to 'file1.txt'
'example.foo' would be renamed to 'example.bar'

Use Case 3: Do not overwrite existing files

Code

rename -o foo bar *

Motivation

There may be cases where some files in the current directory already have names that would conflict with the renaming operation. To avoid accidentally overwriting existing files, the -o option can be used to prevent any files from being overwritten during the renaming process.

Explanation

The -o option is used to prevent the rename command from overwriting existing files. When this option is specified, the command will skip any files that would lead to a name conflict and move on to the next file.

Example Output

If there are two files named file1.bar and file2.foo in the current directory and you run the command rename -o foo bar *, only the file file2.foo will be renamed to file2.bar. The file file1.bar will not be affected.

Use Case 4: Change file extensions

Code

rename .ext .bak *.ext

Motivation

Changing file extensions can be necessary when you want to modify the format or type of a group of files. This use case demonstrates how to easily change the extension of multiple files in one command.

Explanation

To change file extensions, the rename command is used with two arguments: the current extension (.ext) and the new extension (.bak). The *.ext wildcard represents all files with the .ext extension in the current directory. This command will rename all files with the .ext extension to have the .bak extension.

Example Output

If there are files named file1.ext, file2.ext, and example.ext in the current directory, running the rename .ext .bak *.ext command will rename the files to file1.bak, file2.bak, and example.bak.

Use Case 5: Prepend “foo” to all filenames in the current directory

Code

rename '' 'foo' *

Motivation

Sometimes you may need to add a common prefix to the filenames in a directory. This use case demonstrates how to prepend a string, such as ‘foo’, to all the filenames in the current directory using the rename command.

Explanation

The rename command is used with two arguments: an empty string ('') and the desired prefix (foo). The asterisk (*) wildcard represents all files in the current directory. This command will add the prefix ‘foo’ to the beginning of each filename.

Example Output

If you have files named file1.txt, file2.txt, and example.txt in the current directory, running the rename '' 'foo' * command will rename the files to foofile1.txt, foofile2.txt, and fooexample.txt.

Use Case 6: Rename a group of increasingly numbered files with zero-padding

Code

rename foo foo00 foo? && rename foo foo0 foo??

Motivation

When you have a group of sequentially numbered files that need to be renamed with zero-padding (e.g., foo1 to foo001, foo2 to foo002, etc.), using the rename command can automate the process and ensure consistent file naming.

Explanation

Two separate rename commands are used in this case. The first command renames the files with a single-digit number to have a two-digit zero-padded number. The second command renames the files with a two-digit number to have a three-digit zero-padded number.

The syntax foo? matches any single character after foo, allowing the first rename command to rename all files with a single-digit number. The syntax foo?? matches any two characters after foo, allowing the second rename command to rename all files with a two-digit number.

Example Output

If you have files named foo1, foo2, …, foo9, foo10, foo11, …, foo99 in the current directory, running the command rename foo foo00 foo? && rename foo foo0 foo?? will rename the files as follows:

• foo1 to foo001
• foo2 to foo002
• …
• foo9 to foo009
• foo10 to foo010
• foo11 to foo011
• …
• foo99 to foo099