Version 4.

65

Lance Smith
October 2007
Version 1.3
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2. 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

2
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

Introduction

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

As you will see, it is very easy to use and particularly useful when you have to rename a
large 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 that
you will come to appreciate the more you use ReNamer.

3
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

The ReNamer Window

The Window is where you will do most of your processing. It consists of two
Toolbars to control the Files and Rules areas; the Rules Area to specify the processing
for 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 to
choose the Rules you need and “configure” them to do what you want. Your Rules can
be 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.

4
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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

5
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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 the
window for you to select a Rule and enter the data you wish to
change to “configure” the Rule.

When you have completed your configuration of the Rule, the

button is used to save the configuration and display the
Rule in the columns. The feature (the
default 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 Windows
renames the files, making your file name changes permanent.

6
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

The ReNamer RULES

The Rules are used to rename the files. Any time that you have to rename large
numbers of files you usually have to do it in bits & pieces or in increments. ReNamer
provides 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 name
Delete used to delete existing text from the name
Remove more delete text options
Replace used to replace existing text with new text
Extension used to change the “dos” file extension
Strip 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 name
CleanUp used for specialized remove or replace
Translit used to transcribe characters from one language to another
RegEx Regular Expressions = special search tools (see Help)
PascalScript used by programmers to enter programming code
UserInput 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 you
select a rule and “fill in the blanks” and “check off” the changes that you wish ReNamer
to perform. You can use as may rules as you need to change your file names.
Example – The Delete Rule

7
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

When you select a rule, its corresponding “Configuration” is displayed. In this case, the
Delete 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 names used in this example, all the leading numbers and hyphens have been
“deleted” from the column (displayed in red).

The Columns

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

8
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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 a
different order each time you play a music CD, something that makes it useful for
playing music all day long.

But it’s an older DVD player by today’s technological standards, and has the following
limitations;

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 will
only play music files in the above format.

Since the DVD player hardware can’t display the song name without a television
attached to it, it was decided to make things easy and to rename the MP3 files as
Music001.mp3, Music002.mp3, Music003.mp3, etc.

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

9
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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

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 created
a 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.

10
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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 you
can 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 click
button.

Your file names are then loaded into ReNamer file area.

11
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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.

12
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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

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

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

13
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

Preview the New File Names

The button does two things;

1) When Rules are present in the columns, it executes those Rules.

2) When file names are present in the column, it displays the name
changes performed by the Rules in the column.

In the window shown above, since there are no rules present, there are no
changes to names displayed in the column.

When rules are added, the column will show the changes when the
button is clicked. This will happen automatically when the Setting is
checked. For more information, see the (Settings) – Auto Preview.

14
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

(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 every
time you add or change the Rules.

This feature automatically executes the function whenever the conditions listed
below 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 see
the 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.

15
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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

those Rules are displayed in the columns and Auto Preview then
performs the Rules and displays the changes in red in the column.

16
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

(Options) - Highlighting the Changed items in Red

You can choose to “Highlight changed items” in the Menu. This will display
any file name changes made in the column in red. This option was used in
making 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 on
Saving & Loading Rules.

17
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

Add the Rules

The following three “rules” are used to rename the MP3 music files to the naming
format 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 a
serial 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 and
select the Remove rule.

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

18
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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 is
displayed. 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 a
hissy fit.

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

Below, you can see what that Rule change did.

19
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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

It’s 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 not
become permanent until you click the button.

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

20
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

The SERIALIZE Rule (001.MP3)

So now you want to give each of the files a “serial number” thus making each name
unique so that the pesky warning message will go away and Windows will accept the
final 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 Serialize
Rule.

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

Click the button.

21
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

As you can see below, the Serialize Rule has been added to the
columns and the column has been serialized.

22
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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.

23
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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.

24
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

Making a Cross Reference Listing

When doing something like this, it’s nice to have a cross reference listing or index of the
original files names to the new file names. ReNamer has an option that will let you
create 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 have
finished 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 As
window 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 a
“Cross Reference” table like this.

Cross Reference Listing for the My Music 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

25
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

Finalize the New Names

RENAME the Files

When you are satisfied with all of the changes you wish to make to the file names you
finalize 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 the
column.

26
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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 been
permanently changed as shown above.

27
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

To the Changes

However, if you find that you have inadvertently your files, you can still reverse
these changes using the feature found on the Menu, just as long as you have
not left the ReNamer program (by the or the ). Once you exit the program the file
name 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 file
names to their prior names.

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

28
 A Beginner’s Guide to ReNamer

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.

29