Beginner's Guide v1.3

8/14/2019 Beginner's Guide v1.3

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Version 4.65

Lance SmithOctober 2007Version 1.3


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A Beginners Guide to ReNamer

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The User Interface Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The ReNamer Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Toolbars and Rules & File Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Rules Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The File Names Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The ReNamer Processing Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The ReNamer Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

How the Rules Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

A Simple Application - Renaming Music Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1) Select Files to Rename. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1. Use the Add File Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112. Use the Add Folders Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3. Use the Windows Drop & Drag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2) Preview the Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(Settings) Auto Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(Options) Highlight Your Changes in Red. . . . . . . . 17

(Presets) Load Saved Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3) Add the Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

The Remove Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Serialize Rule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Insert Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4) Making a Cross Reference Listing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

5) Finalize the New Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

To UNDO the Rename Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

6) Reusing Your Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

(Presets) Saved Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

(Presets) Load Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29


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Introduction

ReNamer is a freeware program developed by Denis Kozlov that is used to ease thetedious process of renaming your Windows files.

As you will see, it is very easy to use and particularly useful when you have to rename alarge number of files.

The User Interface Design

The user interface is designed using the traditional computer model for

Input Processing Output

You will find all three of these elements visible on the Window, something thatyou will come to appreciate the more you use ReNamer.


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The ReNamer Window

The Window is where you will do most of your processing. It consists of twoToolbars to control the Files and Rules areas; the Rules Area to specify the processingfor your name changes, and the Files Area to display the Input & Output file names.

You create the Rules, which are then used to change the file names. You get tochoose the Rules you need and configure them to do what you want. Your Rules canbe added, edited, deleted, and moved up or down in the processing sequence.

The ReNamer Window

The file names are displayed both before and after the name changes.


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The Toolbars and Rules & Files Areas

The Rules Toolbar is used to control the processing of the Rules Area.

Used to add (create) a rule in the columns

Used to remove a rule from the columns

Used to move a rule up in the processing sequence

Used to move a rule down in the processing sequence

The File Names Toolbar is used to control the input & output data in the Files Area.

Used to add Files to the column

Used to add Folders to the column

Used to execute the Rules & display the changes in the column

Used to permanently rename the changes in the columns


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The ReNamer Processing Steps

There are four basic steps to ReNamer processing. These steps are performed using

the following buttons on the Window.

or to select the files that you wish to rename.

To create the Rules you need to change the file names.Using the button, you can add as many Rules as needed to

change your file names. The button brings up thewindow for you to select a Rule and enter the data you wish tochange to configure the Rule.

When you have completed your configuration of the Rule, thebutton is used to save the configuration and display the

Rule in the columns. The feature (thedefault Setting) then executes the Rule and displays the name

changes in the column.

Used to manually execute the Rules and display the name changes.This step is not necessary when the Setting is checked.

When you are satisfied with the results of all your name changes,

you finalize everything using the button and Windowsrenames the files, making your file name changes permanent.


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The ReNamer RULES

The Rules are used to rename the files. Any time that you have to rename largenumbers of files you usually have to do it in bits & pieces or in increments. ReNamerprovides you with 13 rules that you can use to do this.

ReNamer Rules available for changing the file names

Insert used to insert new text into the nameDelete used to delete existing text from the name

Remove more delete text options

Replace used to replace existing text with new textExtension used to change the dos file extensionStrip used to remove specific characters (digits, symbols, etc.)Case used to change the letter case (upper, lower, etc.)

Serialize used to add sequential numbering to the file nameCleanUp used for specialized remove or replaceTranslit used to transcribe characters from one language to anotherRegEx Regular Expressions = special search tools (see Help)

PascalScript used by programmers to enter programming codeUserInput used to enter individual one of a kind file names

How the RULES Work

You get to choose the rules you need and configure them to do what you want. Each

rule is designed to perform a different function or task. The window lets youselect a rule and fill in the blanks and check off the changes that you wish ReNamerto perform. You can use as may rules as you need to change your file names.

Example The Delete Rule


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When you select a rule, its corresponding Configuration is displayed. In this case, theDelete Rule was selected and the Until Count option was increased to 3 characters.

This would remove the first 3 characters from the file names as shown in the

column. The button then executes the changes you have requested.

The Column

This is what the preceding Delete Rule would do to the following file names. Notice that

for the file namesused in this example, all the leading numbers and hyphens have beendeleted from the column (displayed in red).

The Columns

Also notice that the Delete rule just executed is now displayed in thecolumns. Every time a new rule is added it will be placed at the bottom of the Rulesarea.


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A Simple Application Renaming Music Files

This DVD Video Player is hooked up to an amplifier just to play MP3 music.

The player has a Random button on it, which, when pressed, will play the songs in adifferent order each time you play a music CD, something that makes it useful forplaying music all day long.

But its an older DVD player by todays technological standards, and has the followinglimitations;

1. You can only play MP3 or WMA music files.

2. You can only play music on CDs (not DVDs).

3. You must rename each song in the 8.3 name format,

********.MP3 or ********.WMA

where each * is either a letter or a number.

(which looks suspiciously like the old DOS naming format).

Of course, song names these days can be quite lengthy and contain lots of spaces and

other special characters which this DVD player will not recognize, nor process. It willonly play music files in the above format.

Since the DVD player hardware cant display the song name without a televisionattached to it, it was decided to make things easy and to rename the MP3 files asMusic001.mp3, Music002.mp3, Music003.mp3, etc.

This format was used this to rename about 300 MP3 files that were burned to CD, thenthe CD was popped into the DVD Video Player for random play.


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So here's what is needed to be done to rename several hundred MP3 files beforeburning them to a CD. This is what the file names look like before and after renamingthem.

BEFORE Renaming AFTER Renaming

As you will see, this can be easily achieved using ReNamer.

WARNING Before doing anything like this for yourself, be sure that you have createda temporary folder in which to hold a copy of the files you wish to rename. Otherwise,you will end up renaming your original files, thereby losing all the real song titles.


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Select the Files to Rename

There are three ways to select the files you wish to rename. As many files as desired

can be added to the window using any or all of these methods.

1. Use the button.

If your files are located and scattered throughout several folders on your disk youcan use this method to select as many files as you wish. Click the button

and navigate to the folder you wish to process, select the files, and clickbutton.

Your file names are then loaded into ReNamer file area.


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2. Use the button.

If you wish to add all of the files from a particular folder you can use this method to

select as many folders as you wish. Click the button on window

and navigate to the folder you wish to process, select the Folder and click

button located on the window.

Your file names are then loaded into ReNamer file area.


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3. You can use these Windows Methods to Drag & Drop files into the ReNamerFiles Area where its says using either;

You can use any of these methods repetitively as many times as necessary inselecting files.

Navigate to the folder you wish to process, select the files, and drag & drop theminto ReNamer Files Area.


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(Settings) Auto Preview

Starting with version 4.20 of ReNamer, the Auto Preview feature is the default Setting

for Preview. Auto Preview is so named because it automatically performs a everytime you add or change the Rules.

This feature automatically executes the function whenever the conditions listedbelow occur. The examples used in this guide were made using this feature.

When this feature is checked it is no longer necessary to click the button to seethe results of any Rule changes that you have made. Auto Preview displays them

automatically.

There is also an additional Auto Preview feature that can be checked to force an Auto

Preview when new files are added to the column.


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As you can see here, when the Rules are loaded, using a previously saved set ofRules named Standardize My Music (see Reusing Your Rules),

those Rules are displayed in the columnsand Auto Preview then

performs the Rules and displays the changes in red in the column.


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(Options) - Highlighting the Changed items in Red

You can choose to Highlight changed items in the Menu. Thiswill display

any file name changes made in the columnin red. This option was used inmaking the examples used in this guide.

(Presets) Load Saved Rules

Depending on which Settings you have selected, the button is also used to

execute the Rules after saved rules have been loaded from the Menu.

If you are not using the Settings for the Auto Preview, it will be necessary to click the

button to execute the Rules. See Reusing your Rules for more information onSaving & Loading Rules.


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Add the Rules

The following three rules are used to rename the MP3 music files to the namingformat required to play them in the DVD Video Player.

Remove to erase the current file names.

Serialize to make each of the new file names unique by giving it each one aserial number.

Insert to add the Music text to the new file name.

All of the Rule changes will be applied to the names displayed in the column.

The REMOVE Rule (.MP3)

First you want to get rid of all of the original names. Click on the button andselect the Remove rule.

When the Interpret Symbol box is checked, the * in the Remove box serves as awildcard mask. The .MP3 extension is spared because the skip extension box ischecked (by default).


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Clicking the button applies the rule to the file names in the column. The

results of that rule change now appear in red under the column.

Due to the nature of these particular name changes, the following warning message isdisplayed. The warning message is telling you that if you were to click on the final

button that invalid file names would be produced and Windows would have ahissy fit.

Since you are not finished with your rename changes you can disregard this messageat this time.

Below, you can see what that Rule change did.


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As you can see in the column, all of the file names, except for the .MP3 fileextension, have now been removed.

Its important to realize that no file names have actually been renamed at this point. The

column holds the changes that you are intend to make. Name changes do notbecome permanent until you click the button.

If the results don't come out as intended, you can always re-edit the rule and change ituntil you get the results you desire. Like everything else in computers, its a trial & error

process.


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The SERIALIZE Rule (001.MP3)

So now you want to give each of the files a serial number thus making each nameunique so that the pesky warning message will go away and Windows will accept thefinal file names as valid when you are ready to make the changes permanent.

You use the Serialize Rule for this. Click on the button and select the SerializeRule.

This rule instructs ReNamer to append the serial numbers to the file name and tonumber the files incrementally, starting from 1. In order have the files sort correctly, youalso have to check the pad length parameter and increase its length to 3. This will addthe leading zeros to the serial number portion of the file name for you.

Click the button.


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As you can see below, the Serialize Rule has been added to the

columns and the column has been serialized.


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The INSERT Rule (Music001.MP3)

Here's where you add the Music part to the file name, using the INSERT Rule. Click

on the button and select the Insert Rule.

Highlighted in red are the entries that were made to the Insert rule. When you click the

button the text Music is inserted into the beginning of each file name.


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Notice that the Insert rule appears in the Rule area and that all the MP3 files in the

column now have Music inserted into the front part of the file name.


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Making a Cross Reference Listing

When doing something like this, its nice to have a cross reference listing or index of theoriginal files names to the new file names. ReNamer has an option that will let youcreate one with the help of your word processor or spreadsheet.

If you choose to make a cross reference listing, this has to be done after you havefinished making all of the file name changes and before finalizing those changes with

the button.

Select the Export list of files and new names from the menu. A Save Aswindow will appear asking you to choose a folder, a file name, and a file type (.txt or.csv) with which to save the data.

Your data will then, for example, be exported to a TXT file, such as this one

You can then use your word processor to edit the TXT file and convert the data into aCross Reference table like this.

Cross Reference Listing for theMyMusic CD containing- Bob Dylan\Highway 61 Revisited

01-Like a Rolling Stone.mp3 Music001.mp3

02-Tombstone Blues.mp3 Music002.mp3

03-It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.mp3 Music003.mp3

04-From a Buick 6.mp3 Music004.mp3

05-Ballad of a Thin Man.mp3 Music005.mp3

06-Queen Jane Approximately.mp3 Music006.mp3

07-Highway 61 Revisited.mp3 Music007.mp3

08-Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.mp3 Music008.mp3

09-Desolation Row.mp3 Music009.mp3


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Finalize the New Names

RENAME the Files

When you are satisfied with all of the changes you wish to make to the file names youfinalize everything by clicking on the button. This makes the name changes final

and renames all the files with the names as they are currently displayed in thecolumn.


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The following message will be displayed.

And the window will be refreshed with your new file renames.

The file names in the original folder from which these files came from have now beenpermanently changed as shown above.


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To the Changes

However, if you find that you have inadvertently your files, you can still reversethese changes using the feature found on the Menu,justas long as you have

not left theReNamerprogram (by the or the ). Once you exit the program the filename changes become permanent and can not be restored using the feature.

will ask you to confirm the restore. When you answer Yes, it will restore your filenames to their prior names.

Limitations - If you have used the button several times in the same renamingsession, you can only your changes up to the prior for that namingsession.


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Reusing Your Rules

Once you have a set of Rules that do everything you want them to do, you can save

your Rule set, using the Menu, and reuse them again at a later time.

Saving your Rules

Menu Your Rules are saved

Use the menu and window to save your Rules. Type a name for your

Rules into the Preset Name box and click .

Loading your Rules

Menu Your Rules are loaded

Select the Rules you wish to load and they will be loaded into the ReNamer Rule area.

Beginner's Guide v1.3

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