17.20 Rename File
20200915 The basic syntax of the rename command is:
$ rename [-n|-v] 's|<regexp>|<replacement>|' * # s => substitute y => transliterate
Numerous examples of the command are illustrated throughout this chapter. Here’s some typical use cases:
# Rename backup versions using ~n~ style to numeric versions.
$ rename -n 's/.pdf. ([0-9]+)~/_$1.pdf/' *
rename(20201129_paper163.pdf. 2 , 20201129_paper163_2.pdf)
# Remove redundant final underscore.
$ rename -n 's/_\././' *
rename(20201129_paper163_.pdf, 20201129_paper163.pdf)
# Substitute underscore for spaces in filenames.
$ rename -n 's/ /_/g' *
# Replace various symbols with underscore.
$ rename -n 's/[&:\(\)\[\]]/_/g' *
# Remove strings of underscores.
$ rename -n 's/__*/_/g' *
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