Batch renaming is a form of batch processing

Batch processing

Batch processing is execution of a series of programs on a computer without manual intervention.Batch jobs are set up so they can be run to completion without manual intervention, so all input data is preselected through scripts or command-line parameters...

 used to rename

Rename

Rename is a word meaning change the name of something. Different areas, such as linguistics, relational algebra, and computer science incur renaming actions with different detailed activity, however the principles behind are all the same — change the name of something.Specific uses:* Rename...

 multiple computer files and folders in an automated fashion, in order to save time and reduce the amount of work involved. Some sort of software is required to do this. Such software can be more or less advanced, but most have the same basic functions. Batch renaming software exists for most operating systems.

Batch renaming can also be referred to as 'mass file renaming', rename 'en masse' and 'bulk renaming'.

Common functions

Most batch renamers share a basic set of functions to manipulate the filenames:

• Find a string within the filename and replace it with another, or remove it.
• Setting the capitalization
  Capitalization
  Capitalization is writing a word with its first letter as a majuscule and the remaining letters in minuscules . This of course only applies to those writing systems which have a case distinction...
  
   of the letters in the filenames.
• Extracting information from the files, such as Mp3
  MP3
  MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
  
   ID3
  ID3
  ID3 is a metadata container most often used in conjunction with the MP3 audio file format. It allows information such as the title, artist, album, track number, and other information about the file to be stored in the file itself....
  
   tags, and putting it in the filename.
• Add a number sequence (001,002,003,...) to a list of files.

Some batch rename software can do more than just renaming filenames. Features include changing the dates of files and changing the file attributes (such as the write protected attribute).

Common uses

There are many situations where batch renaming software can be useful. Here is a list of some common uses:

• Many digital cameras store images using a base filename, such as DCSN0001 or IMG0001. Using a batch renamer the photographer can easily give the pictures meaningful names.

• When downloading files from the Internet
  Internet
  The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
  
   such as mp3 music, the files often have crude names. A batch renamer can be used to quickly change the filenames to a style that suits the person who downloaded them.

• When managing large amount of files, such as a picture database, a batch renamer is more or less essential for the task of maintaining filenames without too much manual labour.

• When authoring
  Optical disc authoring
  Optical disc authoring, including DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring , is the process of assembling source material—video, audio or other data—into the proper logical volume format to then be recorded onto an optical disc .-Process:To burn an optical disc, one usually first creates an...
  
   music files onto a CD/DVD
  DVD
  A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
  
   or transferring the files to a digital audio player, a batch renamer can be used to listen to songs in desired order.

• When uploading files to a web server
  Web server
  Web server can refer to either the hardware or the software that helps to deliver content that can be accessed through the Internet....
  
   or transferring the files to an environment that does not support space
  Space (punctuation)
  In writing, a space is a blank area devoid of content, serving to separate words, letters, numbers, and punctuation. Conventions for interword and intersentence spaces vary among languages, and in some cases the spacing rules are quite complex....
  
   or non-English characters in filenames, a batch renamer can be used to substitute such characters with acceptable ones.

Basic renaming problems

There are a few problems to take in consideration when renaming a file list.

(=> means: renamed to)

• Detecting that the target filename already exist.

file01 => file02 (file02 already exists in file-system)

• Detecting that the target filename is already used.

file01 => file03

file02 => file03 (file03 is already used)

• Detecting cycle renaming (Solved by a two-pass renaming).

file01 => file02 (file02 already exists in file-system)

file02 => file03 (file03 already exists in file-system)

file03 => file01 (file01 already exists in file-system)

Two-pass renaming

A two-pass renaming use a temporary filename (that doesn't exist in file-system) as shown below.

(=> means: renamed to)

• First pass

file01 => file01_AAAAA

file02 => file02_AAAAB

file03 => file03_AAAAC

• Second pass

file01_AAAAA => file02

file02_AAAAB => file03

file03_AAAAC => file01

It solves the cycle renaming problem.

If this approach is to be used care should be taken not to exceed any filename length limits during the rename, and also that the temporary names do not clash with any existing files.

List of batch renaming software

This is a list of notable batch renaming programs in the form of a comparison table.

Name	License	Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...	Mac OS X Mac OS X Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...	Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...	BSD/FreeBSD FreeBSD FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...	Unix-like Unix-like A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
Ant Renamer	Free, GNU General Public License GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
Aperture	Commercial
Automator Automator (software) Automator is an application developed by Apple for Mac OS X that implements point-and-click creation of workflows for automating repetitive tasks into batches for quicker alteration, thus saving time and effort over human intervention to manually change each file separately...	Commercial
Batch File Renamer	Free, ???
Better File Rename	Commercial
Batch File Renamer v1.0	Commercial
GNOME Commander GNOME Commander GNOME Commander is a 'two pane' graphical file manager for GNOME. It is built using the GTK+ toolkit and GnomeVFS. GNOME Commander aims to fulfil the demands of more advanced users who like to focus on file management, their work through special applications and running smart commands.- Features :*...	Free, GNU General Public License GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....	(via Cygwin Cygwin Cygwin is a Unix-like environment and command-line interface for Microsoft Windows. Cygwin provides native integration of Windows-based applications, data, and other system resources with applications, software tools, and data of the Unix-like environment... )
GPRename GPRename GPRename is a computer program for renaming multiple files and directories at one time. GPRename is written in Perl, and runs on any Unix-like operating system.- Features :* Rename both files and directories...	Free, GNU General Public License GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....  v3
KRename KRename KRename is a KDE software that can be used for renaming multiple files and directories at one time. KRename is written in C++. Many Linux distributions that use KDE for desktop environment comes with KRename.- Features :* Rename both files and directories...	Free, GNU General Public License GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....  v2
Métamorphose Métamorphose (renamer) Métamorphose or Métamorphose file -n- folder renamer is an open source batch renamer. The focus is on legibility, usability, and power - there are no codes or formats to remember and all controls are shown, yet rather complicated operations can be done...	Free, GNU General Public License GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....  v3
Rename Master	Free, private
RenameIT	Free, GNU General Public License GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
ReNamer	personal use: Free, CC BY NC-ND 3.0 Creative Commons licenses Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S... , commercial use: licensed by author
Renamer4Mac	Commercial