renameDates.py

#! /usr/bin/python3.5

"""

Author: Samrat Banerjee
Dated: 26/06/2018
Description: PROJECT- Renames filenames with American MM-DD-YYYY date format to European DD-MM-YYYY

"""

import shutil, os, re


# Create a regex that matches files with the American date format
datePattern=re.compile(r"""^(.*?) # all text before the date
                       ((0|1)?\d)- # one or two digits for the month
                       ((0|1|2|3)?\d)- # one or two digits for the day
                       ((19|20)\d\d) # four digits for the year
                       (.*?)$ # all text after the date
                       """, re.VERBOSE)

# Loop over the files in the working directory
for amerFilename in os.listdir('.'):
    mo=datePattern.search(amerFilename)

    # Skip files without a date
    if mo==None:
        continue

    # Get the different parts of the filename
    beforePart=mo.group(1)
    monthPart=mo.group(2)
    dayPart=mo.group(4)
    yearPart=mo.group(6)
    afterPart=mo.group(8)

    # Form the European-style filename
    euroFilename = beforePart + dayPart + '-' + monthPart + '-' + yearPart + afterPart

    # Get the full, absolute file paths
    absWorkingDir=os.path.abspath('.')
    amerFilename=os.path.join(absWorkingDir, amerFilename)
    euroFilename=os.path.join(absWorkingDir, euroFilename)

    # Rename the files
    print('Renaming %s to %s....'%(amerFilename,euroFilename))
    shutil.move(amerFilename, euroFilename)