Automator - pass text to Rename Finder Items

Question

Automator - pass text to Rename Finder Items

Is it possible to do this:

"Ask For Text" action passes the user inputed text to the New Name text field of "Make Finder Item Names Sequential" action?

My thought is to select multiple files in the finder and start the workflow with "Get Selected Finder Items" - these are files that I want to batch rename.

"Ask For Text" presents a dialog in which the user will input the new name for the files.

The "Rename Finder Items" action is next, with Make Sequential selected from the drop down list.

New Name is checked and the action uses the text entered above.

Thanks for the help.

MacBook Pro 15, Mac OS X (10.6.7), 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM, 300GB HD

Posted on Apr 21, 2011 3:53 PM

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Answer 1

red_menace

Level 6

17,072 points

Apr 21, 2011 5:11 PM in response to Marc Defilippo

Unfortunately, the Rename Finder Items action does not accept variables in any of its text fields. Another approach might be to make your items sequential, then replace the other part of the name. If there will be a way to determine the part of the name to replace (e.g. by character or position), I have a Change Name of Finder Items action that does use variables - you can download it from my Automator homepage.

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