Rename Files - Advanced

Available in both Explore Views and in Virtual Folders    

Much More Than a Sequential Rename Routine

One filename or thousands
can be renamed with or without confimatons

Just one of many ways to rename files
Convert case, change extensions, add sequential numbers, insert text, convert spaces to other characters or remove completely, add file times, convert to true 8.3 DOS names and more.

Worry-free Confirmations
After you have told FileBoss how you want the files renamed you can approve (and change individually) each file or tell FileBoss at any time to rename all the remaining files automatically.

Complete logging of which files where renamed to what
The Summary and Details panes of the Results window will show you exactly what was renamed and to what.

How to display this Dialog

Select the files and folders you want to rename

Then:

Press Ctrl+R

or, Select Actions | Rename... from the main menu

or, Click the Rename Selected Files button:

Then:

Select the Sequential / Formatting Panel

Advanced File Renaming

Examples of renamed files with this dialog:

New Name Field

Enter the format for the new name here. Meta-characters (and their preceding backslash) will be replaced with the appropriate substitution as described below. Note that more than one meta character can be used in the format.

Sequential numbering (\?)

Sequential numbering inserts numbers such as 001, 002 or 10, 11, 12 in the filenames where the \? meta-sequence is located.

e.g. The format Seattle Pictures \?.jpg would rename the selected entries Seattle Pictures 01.jpg, Seattle Pictures 02.jpg and Seattle Pictures 03.jpg if the number of digits is set to 2 and the Start At is set to 1.

You could also use the sequential number as the extension. E.g. the format Special Data.\? would rename the files: Special Data.001, Special Data.003, Special Data.003...

Warning: Be sure you know what you are doing before changing file extensions. Doing so could hurt your system.

For more details and examples either click the 'Help' button or right-click one of the controls in the Sequence Number area of the dialog.

Filename (\N)
Filename Extension (\E)

The \N and \E meta-sequences will be replaced by the file or folder's filename or extension respectively. (\E meta-sequence does not include the dot (.) character before it so you must add it yourself). For example, to change the extension of all selected files to 'html' from just 'htm' you could use the format, \N.html. Or if you want to add a sequential number to the current file names you might use Mother's Birthday - \N.\E which would change a name like Grandmother.jpg into Mother's Birthday - Grandmother.jpg.

If you really wanted to you could even reverse the filename and extensions. Just use the format \N.\E. That would change a filename like John.Doe into Doe.John.

Folder Name (\F)

The \F meta-sequence will be replaced by the name of the file's parent folder. For instance if the file Grandmother.jpg was in the C:\My Pictures\Holiday Trip folder then the sequence \F - \N.\E would change it to Holiday Trip - Grandmother.jpg.

File Times: Modified (\M), Accessed (\A) and Created (\C)

Inserts the file's respective date and/or time into the filename at the location of the meta-sequence. The times inserted are the file's own time, i.e. the date and times displayed by FileBoss or Windows Explorer for that file. The format of the date and time is controlled by the format selected in the drop down list. If you would like a different format click the 'More Formats' button to see a complete list for format elements that you can use.

For more details and examples either click the Help button or right-click one of the controls in the File Dates area of the dialog.

File times: Modified (\M), Accessed (\A) and Created (\C)

Inserts the file's respective date and/or time into the filename at the location of the meta-sequence. The times inserted are the file's own time, i.e. the date and times displayed by FileBoss or Windows Explorer for that file. The format of the date and time is controlled by the format selected in the drop down list. If you would like a different format click the 'More Formats' button to see a complete list for format elements that you can use.

How to Setup and Insert File times

Example:

Long Beach (\C) #\?.jpeg (Assuming the file was created on 2 July 2004 and the format is set to %d/%m/%y.)

Long Beach (2/7/04) #001.jpeg, Long Beach (2/7/04) #002.jpeg, Long Beach (2/7/04) #003.jpeg

Note that in the above example sequential numbering has also been added otherwise all files would be renamed to the same name which can't happen.

To add the last modified date to all selected entries use a format like: \N (\M).\E. This would simple insert the modified time - in parentheses - after the filename. This would change a filename like Long Beach Harbor.jpeg into Long Beach Harbor (2/7/04).jpeg.

Confirmation Dialog Format

Specifies the format for displaying the new filenames in the confirmation dialog.

Extension Display Option

When the 'With Name' option is selected the filename to be changed will be displayed in the following format:

New Filename with Extension

But when the 'Separately' option is chosen the name will be split into two parts: the name portion and the extension portion.

New Filename with Sperate Extension

Normally displaying the extension separate from the main name is the more convenient, especially if you will be manually altering the names. It allows to change the filename easily without accidentally changing the extension. (And extensions are critical for most Windows programs to recognize which files they can work with.

Ref: HIDD_REN_PAGE_SEQUENTIAL

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