one liner to rename multiple files in a directory?

VGR has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi....
Do you know of a way to rename multiple files in a directory using a single line of code on the bash shell with perl? without using too many pipes :D
This is what the files in the current directory look like:

$ls
[crap]Episode1.avi
[crap]Episode2.avi
...
..
.
[download]

I want it to look like:

$ls
Episode1.avi
Episode2.avi
...
..
.
[download]

$ls
Season1Episode1.avi
Season1Episode2.avi
..
.
[download]

Comment on one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? Select or Download Code

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Re: one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? by ikegami (Patriarch) on Feb 15, 2010 at 21:17 UTC
General pattern: `ls -1 \| perl -nle'$o=$_; s///; $n=$_; rename($o,$n)if!-e$n'` [download] As applied to your case: `ls -1 *.avi \| perl -nle'$o=$_; s/\[crap\]/Season1/; $n=$_; rename($o,$ +n)if!-e$n'` [download] I find `if!-e$n` essential. One a couple of occasions, I've managed to delete all but one file in a directory without it. There's a `rename` floating around script that takes regex patterns. That would be a better solution.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? by planetscape (Chancellor) on Feb 16, 2010 at 03:47 UTC
There's a `rename` floating around script that takes regex patterns. That would be a better solution. I think perhaps you refer to rename 0.3 - now with two extra cupholders. HTH, planetscape	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? by VGR (Acolyte) on Feb 17, 2010 at 10:31 UTC
great stuff Thanks Ikegami	[reply]
Re: one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? by toolic (Bishop) on Feb 15, 2010 at 21:17 UTC
I don't know how to do it with a Perl one-liner, but I have been using this script for years: ren-regexp It uses Perl regular expression syntax. This will work for your 1st example (to get rid of arbitrary leading crap): `ren-regexp 's/^.(Episode.\.avi)/$1/' Episode.avi` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? by goeb (Pilgrim) on Feb 15, 2010 at 21:16 UTC
On a Debian system (maybe the same on others, I don't know): the perl package comes with a prename script (can usually be called as rename, without the leading p), it can rename files based on regular expressions. So it's Perl and it's only one line, something like `rename 's/[crap]//' *.avi` (replace crap, of course...).	[reply] [d/l]
Re: one liner to rename multiple files in a directory? by eyepopslikeamosquito (Archbishop) on Feb 16, 2010 at 07:10 UTC
For more general solutions to renaming files, see Larry's famous rename script and Unix rename faq (a version of Larry's script is given at the end). It's also discussed in Perl Cookbook, recipe 9.9.	[reply]