Thread: AppleScript - rename files

Code:

#include <iostream.h>

int main()
{
	char file[MAX_PATH];
	char newfilename[MAX_PATH];
	char scanf_s[5];
	sprintf(scanf_s, "%%%is", MAX_PATH - 1);
	char quit = 'N';
	while (quit == 'N')
	{
		printf("Enter filename to rename:\n");
		scanf(scanf_s, file);
		printf("Enter new filename:\n");
		scanf(scanf_s, newfilename);
		if ( rename(file, newfilename) )
			printf("Successfully renamed file!\n");
		else
			printf("Oops! Unable to rename file!\n");
		printf("Rename another file (Y/N)?\n");
		scanf("%c", &quit);
		quit = toupper(quit);
	}
	return 0;
}

Something like that? Not tested and appropriate headers needs to be included, so consider it pseudo.

Or something like this:

Code:

#!/bin/sh
for file in  ./*
   move $f $f.new
end

Untested, not quite convinced it's that simple. Another version to just display the names is here:
http://www.juixe.com/techknow/index....-shell-script/

--
Mats

> Apple has a builtin scripting which is called applescript that does this but its not efficient,
Writing it in C isn't going to make it vastly quicker. Nearly all the work is being done outside the code you write, so whether you write it in Applescript or C won't make that much of a difference.

Like what matsp posted, a script takes 30 seconds to write (and then you throw it away probably), whereas a C program might take you all day if you're not already adept at programming in C (this thread is already 3 hrs old, and your program isn't finished yet).

What is the actual renaming you are doing? Are you doing this on a regular basis? What are the original names, and what are the new names (you don't need to give details, but say for example you are renaming IMG_nnnn.JPG to Portrait_Lisa_nn.jpg would give us some idea of what you are actually trying to do. Getting a "bigger picture" often helps in the recommendation of the right solutions.

--
Mats

Ok. Like Salem, I believe the majority of the time consumed by something like this is the time it takes to ACTUALLY rewrite the directory entry of the file. So it's unlikely that the AppleScript is taking much of the time, compared to the actual rename operation itself. I could of course be wrong.

--
Mats

I would do this in Perl. It has lots of nice text manipulation functions, and plenty of APIs to the file system (getting directory entries, renaming files etc).

But before you go to the trouble of all the text handling in C (which, lets face it, is hard work), try something like.

Code:

struct {
  char *old;
  char *new;
} table[] = {
  { "SL0051.jpg", "pic1.jpg" },
  { "SL0052.jpg", "pic2.jpg" },
};
int main ( ) {
  size_t i;
  for ( i = 0 ; i < sizeof table / sizeof *table ; i++ ) {
    rename( table[i].old, table[i].new );
  }
  return 0;
}

Pad the table with 100, 1000 (or however many) and time how long it would take to simply rename everything. Then you'll have a baseline to compare with the same thing in Applescript.

Unless you get stunning performance differences, you're going to question the effort.

Originally Posted by vvan

now that i see the struct and the tabel i understand what is meant by the time spent outside the code

i was planning to iterate the directory without being have to hard code the file name...

Yes, of course, and you can do that, but it would require a lot of string parsing and other stuff. So instead of spending many hours coming up with the code to convert one filename into another filename with the string parsing and string generation, use simple table to estimate how quickly it can be done - if this proves either side of the argument (AppleScript is slow vs. the actual task of renaming the file is the expensive part), then you know which way to go, and where to spend your time.

--
Mats

> i was planning to iterate the directory without being have to hard code the file name.
Yes, which is yet more time spent outside the program, seeking all over those extremely slow hard disks (in program time terms).