20,000 files to rename - Automator / CSV

Every one of these scripting/Automator solutions are custom to the individuals need and no script is universal in its ability to process different file renaming problems. ChatGPT is worthless for this approach too.

The solution that I wrote for the OP in the linked post split CSV by commas and I see semi-colons in your content, so of course the script needs revision for your renaming effort.

Using your before and after file naming convention in a newline terminated CSV with semi-colon separators and no headings, the following script successfully renames to your filename goal.

Before:

After:

Follow the exact steps for creating the Automator solution in Batch file rename from Excel spreadsheet - Apple Community. Replace the contents of the Run Shell Script action with this revised code:

#!/bin/zsh
#

: <<'COMMENT'

Process two column CSV by line, and move (rename) old filename to new filename
in specified directory location. Report files that do not exist.
COMMENT

# zsh shell arrays are 1 based
OLDFILE=1
NEWFILE=2

# drop into selected folder chosen from Ask for Finder Items action
cd "${1}"
CSVFILE="testrename.csv"

# a regular array to hold parts of CSV row
typeset -a csv=()

let cnt=0

while read -r line
do
    # split csv line on semi-colons into array elements
    # remove double-quotes from each column entry — if they exist
    csv=("${(@s/;/)line}")
    old_file="${csv[$OLDFILE]:gs/\"//}.jpg"
    new_file="${csv[$NEWFILE]:gs/\"//}.jpg"
    
    # if old filename exists then rename it
    if [ -e $old_file ]; then
        mv "${old_file}" "${new_file}"
        (( cnt++ ))
    else
        echo "${old_file}" >> ~/Desktop/Errors.txt
        (( cnt-- ))
    fi
    # Only if created on Windows, remove carriage returns from line endings
done < <(perl -lne '$_ =~ s/\015?//g && print;' "${CSVFILE:a:l}")

# if return code from above is 0 then processing was successful and we return
# true with the renamed file count
[[ $? -eq 0 ]] && echo "true $cnt" || echo "false $cnt"

Tested: macOS 13.4.1 (c).

When you first drag/drop that Run Shell Script action into the Workflow window, and change the pass input: selection from to stdin to as arguments, it automatically inserts the unwanted code:

for f in "$@"
do
	echo "$f"
done

You must remove all of that default code before you copy/paste the code I provided above into the Run Shell Script action.

thank you, i got it to work

i was silly and miss choosing the file and folder part when creating the automator

I renamed the proposed file names and got rid of the ':', and "/", and it resolved the issue.

One question I had, is mine would not find the files until I added the extension, so I had to add the extension to the existing and new file names, is there an easy workaround for this?

You should consider using extensions with filenames in both columns of a CSV. Otherwise, you would need to borrow the extension from the first column filename and append that extension to the newfile name. If no extension on first column filenames, then the script should quit.

typeset -a csv=()
csv=("${(@s/,/)row}")
[[ ${csv[1]}:e ]] || {echo "No file extension in column 1 of CSV… exiting."; exit 1 }
old_file="${csv[1]:gs/\"//}"
old_ext=${old_file:e}
new_file="${csv[2]:gs/\"//}.${old_ext}"



You should consider using extensions with filenames in both columns of a CSV. Otherwise, you would need to borrow the extension from the first column filename and append that extension to the newfile name. If no extension on first column filenames, then the script should quit.

typeset -a csv=()
csv=("${(@s/,/)row}")
[[ ${csv[1]}:e ]] || {echo "No file extension in column 1 of CSV… exiting."; exit 1 }
old_file="${csv[1]:gs/\"//}"
old_ext=${old_file:e}
new_file="${csv[2]:gs/\"//}.${old_ext}"



You are on a UNIX box and there should be one "." denoting the separator for the extension. Other dots should be replaced with "_".

Duplicates due to some very messed up hosting software… ;-)

Check this content:

# split csv line on semi-colons into array elements# remove double-quotes from each column entry — if they exist
csv=("${(@s/;/)line}")

If your CSV separator is different than a semi-colon, and commonly it is a comma, then change this character so the script will be aware of the before and after filenames.

Hey Viking,

Thanks for all the work you did on this. I'm running into a similar issue, and wonder if it's due to the original file names have decimals and hyphens.

The script is saying 16 files have been renamed, but the renaming process doesn't occur. I have the file saved as a csv with commas

My apologies, i been reading this post but somehow i am not able to get it to work

A1 is old name, B1 is new name for A1

You are welcome.