Unix "rename" Terminal command available in OS X?

If I were renaming a single file mv would be perfect, but I need to do many files at once. The practicum is that I have a set of files that have an underscore in the file name. I wrote a perl script that automatically generates LaTeX code to make a book for the pictures. However, the \includegraphics command in LaTeX does not care for underscores in filenames so I want to transliterate the underscores into something more LaTeX friendly, like dashes. With rename it's as simple as this:

rename _ - *.jpg

and all of my images that had underscores in their names are replaced with dashes. mv just isn't practical when I'm looking at hundreds (or more) of images. That's why I was so interested in the build of rename from linux -- I don't care what the source is, I just need the functionality.

Now, the rename.c file does have a shell script at the top that is a very decent substitute:

#!/bin/sh
if [ $# -le 2 ]; then
echo call: rename from to files; exit;
fi
FROM="$1"
TO="$2"
shift
shift
for i in $@; do N=`echo "$i" | sed "s/$FROM/$TO/g"`; mv "$i" "$N"; done

but the compiled C program does fix some potential issues, and it would also satisfy the purist in me that loves having a native compiled rendition of rename around.

FYI there is no "rename"command in unix. Try "mv".

rename is not a standard Unix command.

You could go over to <http://versiontracker.com> and search for rename. You will find Mac OS X utilities such as *A Better Finder Rename*, FileRenamer, Renamer4Mac, AispireRenamer, *File Renamer*, etc...

If you really want to do this with the terminal, you could try

#!/bin/sh
# DSC*.jpg W580i*.jpg
for file in DCS*.jpg
do
 new=${file/DSC/W580i/}
 mv $file $new
done

If you install Fink <http://Fink.sf.net>, there is gwenrename, krename, and ren that can be installed. Not sure how they work, but they might be options.

BobHarris wrote:
rename is not a standard Unix command.

It's included as an alias in some Unix systems for PC users.
Actually in Leopard you can
man rename
and get a result
but, the command is not in the system (too many letters to type when mv will do 🙂 )

Actually in Leopard you can
man rename
and get a result
but, the command is not in the system (too many letters to type when mv will do 🙂 )

*man rename* brings up a *Section 2* C programming API.

BobHarris wrote:

Actually in Leopard you can
man rename
and get a result
but, the command is not in the system (too many letters to type when mv will do 🙂 )

*man rename* brings up a *Section 2* C programming API.

That's absolutely correct
As I wrote:
man rename
produces a result

If you really wanted Unix rename it's quite easy:

1. Go here and d/l ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux-ng/v2.14/
2. Look for rename* in misc-utils after untar
3. Remove the preprocessor in rename.c for PACKAGE_STRING and the corresponding (%s)
4. compile it with gcc you get a.out, rename it to rename

You got yourself a unix rename

It's been awhile since I've dealt with C and gcc, so I'm getting lost in step 3 of your instructions. Could I trouble you to be a bit more explicit? Unix rename is our friend and I very much miss it.

Cheers,
-J.

The easy solution to this is as "VK" and "nerowolfe" suggest....use "mv".

The "mv" command IS the standard unix "rename" command. Just reference the same location (filepath) with a new filename and you will have a rename. For example:

File location:
/Users/username/textfile.txt

To rename this to "textfile2.txt" you would type:

mv /Users/username/textfile.txt /Users/username/textfile2.txt

Alternately, if you are in the "username" folder, or in any folder containing the file to be renamed, you do not need to reference the full path...as such:

mv textfile.txt textfile2.txt

Some paranoid people may wish to create a hard link of the file before renaming it, and then deleting the old file, since this will create a copy without removing a reference to the file for the brief microsecond that it takes to "move" the file using the "mv" command.

I should preempt advice about performing the file renaming in perl. Certainly that is an option but I prefer separation of duties. My perl script is for generating LaTeX and I don't want it to tread into the realm of file management. There are also many uses for the rename utility -- stripping version numbers from VMS files sprngs to mind. I am working under the assumption that the contributors to rename.c understand file management and renaming issues much more than I do -- elsewise I'd stick with a perl or bash script.

Cheers,
-J.

I was working on some file operations today and I remembered that I actually once wrote a rename utility in perl for working on Windows. I brushed it off and took out all of the Windows wackiness (the command line doesn't expand blobs, etc.) and have another working solution. I'm not savvy enough to tell if it's better than the shell script from rename.c or not, but it works for what I need it for.

Cheers,
-J.


#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#
# Simulate the 'rename' file utility
#

use strict;

my $usage = "usage: $0 FROM_SPEC TO_SPEC filespec1 filespec2 filespec3\n";
$usage .= "Example: $0 _ - *.txt *.log this_file.c\n\n";

my $specFrom = shift || die "[Missing FROM_SPEC.]\n\n$usage";
my $specTo = shift || die "[Missing TO_SPEC.]\n\n$usage";
if ($#ARGV <= 0){
die "[Missing filespec(s).]\n\n$usage";
}

while($#ARGV >= 0){
my $fileSource = shift;
my $fileTarget = $fileSource;
$fileTarget =~ s/$specFrom/$specTo/g;
next if ("$fileSource" eq "$fileTarget");
print "\t[Processing $fileSource => $fileTarget]\n";
if ( -e $fileTarget ){
print "\t\t[$fileTarget aleady exists. Skipping.]\n";
}
else{
rename $fileSource, $fileTarget;
}
}

I still don't understand. Why not use
mv
??