Auto Rename Files

Access: Menu > View > Rename Page, Rename Tab, <Alt+R>

The Rename Page

Use the Rename Page to rename a complete folder of files at one time, giving each file a name derived from tag data applied to a renaming template.

In the figure above, the renaming template shown is "Artist - Title - Year.mp3." Up to seven tag fields can be included in any template made. Any number of templates can be created and saved in the Saved Templates list. The list always includes two generic, default templates that cannot be removed: "Artist - Title" and "Title - Artist." Create others by using the Template Controls shown above and discussed below.

Begin by clearing the Selected Template box with its Clear button. Use the Build Template drop-down list to Add tag fields to the Selected Template box, one at a time, in any order you choose. See heading File Renaming Controls below for a detailed description of the operation of each control.

After building or selecting a naming template, preview proposed file names by pressing the Preview button. When viewing Tags rather than iTunes and only MP3s are listed, the Data Source Button on the Top Toolbar B can be used to toggle the tag data source between tags ID3v1 and ID3v2 (otherwise, MP3 renames use whatever data is being shown on the Editor page). New names created are shown in the Preview Window on the right. Any number of consecutive previews can be performed before actually renaming files. Previews can be reversed one-by-one with the Undo button beneath the Preview button.

When a preview is produced, each proposed filename is scanned for one of three possible conditions that might prevent a file from being successfully renamed in accordance with the renaming template being used. A descriptive "flag" is placed in front of each name found with one of these potential problems:

***NO DATA*** None of the tag fields used for renaming were found to contain text. Files with this designation cannot be renamed unless the name is manually edited and approved (right-click on the name and choose "Edit" from the popup).

***PARTIAL DATA*** One or more (but not all) tag fields used as the source for filename text have been found to be empty of text. Whether or not a file is allowed to be renamed using partial data is ordinarily optional and depends upon the setting of the Allow partial data option (see below). However, if a renaming operation involves Directory Restructuring (that is, if files are to be relocated as well as renamed), partial-data files are not allowed to be renamed, regardless of option settings. As with the "No Data" exception above, filenames with this flag can be manually edited to bring them into compliance.

***ILLEGAL DATA*** Tag text used to rename a file has been found to contain one or more illegal characters that Windows will not allow as part of a filename ( \ , / , : , * , ? , " , < , > , and | ). Files with this designation cannot be renamed unless manually edited, defects removed, and the name is approved for renaming. You can elect to either prevent a renaming operation entirely when one of these defects is present, or you can have the program simply skip them as files are renamed (see option Stop on illegals below).

When all filenames scheduled for renaming are found to be fault free, the Rename button is turned GREEN. If one or more files have potential problems but renaming can proceed anyway, the button is turned YELLOW. If one or more new names contain illegal characters (and Stop on illegals is active - see below), then the button is turned RED. When red, renaming cannot proceed without manually editing offending names to remove or replace illegal characters. To edit, right-click or double-click on a filename and choose "Edit" from the popup menu.

Checkboxes are provided for each new name to allow specific files to be included or excluded from the naming process. When satisfied with new names, click the Rename button to have allowed files renamed to the proposed names as shown. During lengthy rename operations, renaming can be paused or terminated by clicking anywhere on the Preview Window or Editor, whichever is applicable. After completion, a rename operation can be reversed, if desired, by clicking the Undo button on the right side of Top Toolbar B.

Note that sorting the Editors by filename reduces the time required to perform Rename Previews, file renames, and other multi-file operations. The program uses a row-search algorithm that increases in efficiency with the degree to which the Editors are fully sorted by filename, either ascending or descending.

File Renaming Controls -

• Selected Template: The naming scheme or template applied to each listed file when the Preview or Rename buttons are clicked. For example, if the selected template is "Artist - Title.mp3," then new file names are constructed by first 1) retrieving whatever text is in the Artist tag field, then 2) appending to this a hyphen with a space on each side, and then 3) adding to this whatever text is in the Title field. Finally, a file extension is added.
• Clear: Removes all text from the Selected Template box in preparation for creating or loading a new one.
• Save: Saves the current Selected Template into the list of Saved Templates so it can be recalled at a later time.
• Saved Templates: A customizable list of stored, selectable file renaming templates. Add new ones by using the Save option above.
• Delete: Removes the template currently shown from the Saved Templates list.
• Save: Saves the Saved Templates list to a backup copy restorable with the Restore button described below.
• Load: Clears the current Saved Templates list and reloads it from a backup list created with the Save button above.
• Build Template: Use to create your own renaming templates in the Selected Template box. Many tag fields are represented in plain and several bracketed styles in the pull-down list. Select a field/style combination from the list and click the Add button to append it to the end of the template displayed in the Selected Template box.
• Add: Appends the selected field to the end of the template in the Selected Template box.

The presence of a "plus" symbol in a style indicates that two fields are being combined into one, with a single space character to be placed in between. No Separators will be inserted between the two fields when using one of these styles.

Separator: Selects the field delimiter to be used in renaming templates. By default, the Separator selected here is synchronized with the one used on the Editor page; if you change it in this location it is changed there also, and vice versa. You may, however, specify in the Preferences Behavior section that each of these two pages be allowed to have its own Separator. The active Separator for each page is always shown in the Status Bar at the bottom of the program. You can click there to select another via popup menu.

• [ - ] A dash with a space on each side
• [-] A dash with no spaces on either side
• [- ] A dash with a space on the right side
• [ -] A dash with a space on the left side
• [ _ ] An underbar character
• [ . ] A period
• [ , ] A comma
• [, ] A comma with a space on the right side
• [ ~ ] A tilde with a space on each side
• [~] A tilde with no spaces on either side
• [ ] A space

Bracket Style: Use this pull-down list to select how Separators should be placed around bracketed data (i.e., tag data that's enclosed in parenthesis ( ), square brackets [ ], or curly braces {} ). Four choices are available:

• ( ) - : place a Separator on the right but none on the left
• - ( ) : place a Separator on the left but none on the right
• - ( ) - : place a Separator on both sides
• ( ) : place a Separator on neither side

By default, consecutive bracketed items are treated as a single item for the purposes of determining placement of Separators. Thus, in the following example (which uses Bracket Style 3 above), where the fields [Track] and (Genre) are placed consecutively, brackets appear on the sides but not in between:

"Album - [Track] (Genre) - Title.mp3"

You can override this default behavior to have a Separator added between consecutive bracketed fields by using the Bracket separators option below.

Add Backslash : Appends a backslash "\" character to the text in the Selected Template box. The presence of this character indicates that Directory Restructuring is to be performed, and that all text to the left of the backslash is to be interpreted as a path name for relocating a renamed file. As an example, suppose you are working in folder "C:\MP3" and you have constructed the following template for renaming files:

"Artist\Album\Track - Title.mp3"

All files are renamed to "Track - Title," while the data in each file's "Artist" and "Album" fields are used to find or create a new storage location beneath folder "MP3," for each renamed file in that particular folder. As a specific case, say a file's Artist field contains "Bee Gees," its Album field contains "Best Of," its Title is "Nights On Broadway," and its Track number is "8." By default, the file is renamed and relocated as

"C:\MP3\Bee Gees\Best Of\08 - Nights On Broadway.mp3."

Rather than using the folder in which each file resides as the root folder beneath which subfolders are created and into which renamed files are moved ("C:\MP3" in this example), you can specify a default path for auto-creating subfolders and auto-moving renamed files into (see "Rename Root Folder" on the first page of Preferences).

Extension Capitalization : Click button to toggle capitalization of file extensions through three possible options: mp3, Mp3, or MP3 (actual extension name will vary with the file type or types listed).

Bracket separators ) - (: Determines whether consecutive bracketed items in series have Separators placed in between them or not. When checked, the example given above in "Bracket Style" instead becomes:

"Album - [Track] - (Genre) - Title.mp3"

Caps: Selects the capitalization style for new filenames.

Capitalize: Capitalize each word in a new filename. Tag text used for renaming is capitalized for specific categories of tag fields only and on a field-by-field basis, in accordance with the "Apply to..." settings found on the Auto-Edit Options Panel. Capitalizations performed will pick up any Anti-Capitalization and/or Exact-Capitalization settings defined on the Capitalization Editor (<Ctrl+S>), if Anti-Cap and/or Exact-Cap, below, are enabled. Auto-capitalization is not applied to multi-line tag fields (see "Multi-line Fields" in topic "Apply to..."), but all other auto-edit options are applied.

All Upper: All file names are created in all uppercase letters.

All Lower: All file names are created in all lowercase letters.

As Is: Create names from tag data as the data appears in the tags, with no capitalization changes made.

Note that the capitalization of file extensions is under separate control (see Extension Capitalization below).

The capitalization setting you choose here can be used in another way. If you clear the Selected Template box and leave it blank, clicking the Preview Button applies the selected capitalization setting directly to the contents of the Preview Window. That is, new filenames are not constructed from tag data, but instead existing names are capitalized in accordance with capitalization setting specified here.

Options:

Remove 'The ' When the word "the" (followed by a space) is found at the beginning of text in an artist-type field*, it is automatically removed. Thus, for example, when this option is active, a file with "The Kingston Trio" as artist and "Five Hundred Miles" as title will be renamed to "Kingston Trio - Five Hundred Miles," rather than "The Kingston Trio - File Hundred Miles."

*Artist, Original Artist, Orchestra/Band, Album Artist, Sort Artist, or Sort Album Artist

'& xxx' -> 'and xxx' When the expressions " & his ", " & the ", or " & a " are found anywhere in a tag field, convert them to " and his", " and the ", and " and a ", respectively, during a rename or rename preview.

• 'X -> 'x: Whenever one of the characters D, M, S, or T (followed by a space or at end-of-text) is found to occur after an apostrophe, or one of the characters L, R, or V is found to occur after an apostrophe, convert the letter to lower case. Thus, for example, the contraction "can't" is capitalized as "Can't" and not "Can'T," when this option is enabled. Note that this option takes precedence over the more general option to auto-cap after all apostrophes found in "Default Capitalization Options" on the Capitalization Editor.
• 'Xx -> 'xx: Whenever one of the letter sequences VE, LL, or RE (followed by a space or at end-of-text) is found to occur after an apostrophe, convert it to lower case. Thus, for example, the contraction "we've" is capitalized as "We've" rather than "We'Ve," when this option is enabled. Note that this option takes precedence over the more general option to auto-cap after all apostrophes found in "Default Capitalization Options" on the Capitalization Editor.
• 'Mcx -> McX' Capitalize the next letter following the expression "Mc". Thus, for example, the name "mcguire" is capitalized as "McGuire" rather than "Mcguire."
• " -> ' Convert double-quotes to single-quotes.
• '_' -> ' ' Convert underbars to spaces.
• Anti-Cap: Prevent capitalization of all words and phrases in the anti-capitalization list on the Capitalization Editor (click small button for access). When Auto-Cap (see above) is applied to a tag field, the words and phrases on the anti-cap list are prevented from being capitalized. May also be enabled or disabled with the "Enable Anti-Cap List' checkbox on the Capitalization Editor itself.
• Exact-Cap: Capitalize all words and phrases in the exact-capitalization list as shown on the Capitalization Editor (click small button to access this editor). When Auto-Cap (see above) is applied to a tag field, words and phrases in the exact-cap list are capitalized exactly as shown in the list. May also be enabled or disabled with the "Enable Exact-Cap List' checkbox on the Capitalization Editor itself. Note: The options above are applied in the order listed.
• Auto-Edit Paths: Apply all enabled auto-edit options above to the path portion of a fully-qualified new filename, when renaming involves Directory Restructuring. When disabled, only the file name portion of a new name is auto-edited.
• Do partial-data renames: When a file to be renamed contains no data in one or more (but not all) tag fields used to create a new name, the file appears in a preview with the expression ***PARTIAL DATA*** prepended to its proposed new name. By default such files are skipped during the renaming process and are not renamed. This option may be enabled to have such files renamed anyway, using whatever tag data happens to be present. This setting is not applicable when the rename template being applied contains a backslash character "\," indicating Directory Restructuring is to be performed (that is, files are to be moved as well as renamed). Partial-data renames are not permitted when restructuring; although, partials can be manually edited and corrected via the Preview Window's popup menu "Edit" function. Note that if a file contains no data in ANY tag fields used to create a new name, the file's name appears in a preview with the flag ***NO DATA*** in front of it. Files with this designation will not be renamed unless manually corrected first.
• Use two digit track: Insert a leading zero in front of any single-digit track number when the track is used as part of a new file name. Options is also applied to Episode numbers and Season numbers if used in a name.
• Stop on illegals: The OS does not allow certain text characters ( \ , / , : , * , ? , " , < , > , and | ) to be used as part of a filename. When a file to be renamed contains one or more of these characters in the tag data being used to rename it, the proposed new name appears in the Preview Window with the expression "***ILLEGAL DATA***" added in front of the name. When enabled,
  • If using the Rename Page, the Rename button is turned red when a rename preview produces a new name containing an illegal character. File renaming is not allowed to proceed. When disabled, new names containing illegal characters are automatically skipped during the renaming process, the Rename button is turned yellow, and a summary is given at the end indicating how many skips occurred.
  • If using a popup menu's Rename function (see Renaming with the Popup Menu below), notification is given as each instance of a defect is found, and an opportunity is given to cancel or proceed with the renaming process. When disabled, file names containing illegal characters are simply skipped, with a summary of skipped files given at the end of the renaming process.
• Auto-replace illegals: Optionally remove or replace illegal characters in tag text used for renaming, as directed on the Illegal Character Replacement Editor (click button to execute this editor). This option is ignored if Stop on illegals, above, is enabled.

Note that changes made to these options are not recorded by the program's undo facilities (with the exception of the Anti-Cap and Exact-Cap settings). Thus, if they are changed between Previews, precise undo's cannot be guaranteed.

When renaming files using the contents of the Comment or User Text fields as part of the name, line breaks are removed and lines are concatenated to form new names. See topic Comment Editor for additional discussion about multi-line tag data in Library Clinic.

• Substitution: Mass-replaces text entered in the Replace Box with text entered in the With Box. Previewed file names are searched for the "Replace" text and, when found, replaced with the "With" text.
• Clear: Removes all text from both the Replace Box and the With Box.
• Replace: Enter text in this box to be replaced or deleted in previewed file names.
• With: Enter text to be substituted for text entered in the Replace text box. Leave box empty to have the Replace text simply removed rather than replaced.
• Preview: Previews proposed file name changes in the Preview Window. Checkboxes are provided for including or excluding specific files from the rename process. Individual names may be manually edited by choosing "Edit" from a popup menu or double-clicking a row. The Preview button appears with an underlined "R" when a Selected Template rename is to be previewed, and an underlined "S" when a Substitution preview is to be performed. Switch between preview types using the mouse: click a Substitution control to activate substitution previews; click any other control to activate renaming via template.
• Back: Discards the current preview and returns to the previous one.
• Rename: When enabled, renames files to the previewed file names as shown in the Preview Window.
• Check for Duplicates: Although new file names are checked for uniqueness dynamically as files are renamed, this feature can be used to check for duplicates beforehand, thus avoiding warning messages and skipped files that duplicates otherwise produce. Duplicate file names can occur because two or more tags can contain the same data in the tag fields used to create their file names. When duplicates are found, the number of names that occur more than once, as well as the total number of duplicates, are reported, and the duplicates themselves are highlighted in the Preview Window. You can save the list of duplicates to a text file or view it as a printable report.
• Reset: Discards all queued previews and reloads the Preview Window with current filenames.

Renaming with the Popup Menu

When one or more rows are selected in the Main Editor, a popup menu is produced when the mouse is right-clicked on an Editor column:

Choose option Rename on this popup to be presented with a submenu containing the list of naming templates already defined on the Rename Page (see above). Choosing a template initiates a rename of all selected files to the chosen template format, using data from each file's tag to form the name. Renaming is performed in the same manner as is done on the Rename Page itself.

All auto-edit options in effect on the Rename Page are applied when renaming via popup menu, including capitalization and all applicable option settings. By default, a rename preview is produced on a separate form before renaming occurs allowing confirmation before proceeding. Checkboxes are provided for including or excluding specific files from the rename process. As with Rename Page previews, you can edit individual names before renaming by right-clicking a specific name and choosing "Edit" from a context popup menu. Previews are optional, however. To bypass future previews and begin renaming immediately as soon as a template is chosen, check the "Skip previews" box at the bottom of any preview. Turn previews back on again in the Behavior section of Preferences. Once a rename process has begun, you can terminate or pause it by clicking anywhere on the Editor.