Trying to rename multiple files in multiple directories/subdirectories recursively

[eneetr]

Hi all, I'm totally new to unix and the unix scripting.
I am to rename all the files within a directory (which contains multiple subdirectories) recursively without invalid characters.

I tried the coding posted above.

find . -type f -printf '%p\n' | while read file; do
oldfile=$(basename "$file")
newfile=$(echo "$oldfile" | sed 's/[^A-Za-z0-9_.]/_/g')
if [ ! "$newfile" == "$oldfile" ]; then
echo mv "$file" "${file%$oldfile}$newfile"
fi
done



find . -printf '%f\n' | while read file; do
newfile=$(echo "$file" | sed 's/[^A-Za-z0-9_.]/_/g')
if [ ! "$newfile" == "$file" ]; then
echo mv "$file" "$newfile"
fi
done


but I get an error on both of them stating
"find: bad option -printf
find: [-H | -L] path-list predicate-list"

PLEASE HELP...need to solve this asap..


Thanks

[markcole]

-printf isn't a valid switch/option for print. Check out the find manpage.

[eneetr]

Okay, when I run

find . -print | while read file; do
newfile=$(echo "$file" | sed 's/[^A-Za-z0-9_.]/_/g')
if [ ! "$newfile" == "$file" ]; then
echo mv "$file" "$newfile"
fi
done

it gives me no new results. The changes are not affected in the actual physical folder, however in the unix command prompt I see the changes have been done but not in the actual file title is not.

any ideas?

[coopstah13]

from the man page

       -fprintf file format
              True; like -printf but write to file like -fprint.   The  output
              file  is always created, even if the predicate is never matched.
              See the UNUSUAL FILENAMES  section  for  information  about  how
              unusual characters in filenames are handled.

       -print True; print the full file name on the standard output,  followed
              by  a  newline.    If  you  are  piping  the output of find into
              another program and there is the faintest possibility  that  the
              files  which you are searching for might contain a newline, then
              you should seriously consider using the -print0  option  instead
              of  -print.   See  the UNUSUAL FILENAMES section for information
              about how unusual characters in filenames are handled.

[eneetr]

Hi everyone,

So I am successfull at using the script below to change all the file names which contain invalid characters (such as #, : etc) but once the changes are made all the files are moved to the root of the directory. I want to rename and replace the current file without moving the files location. With this query I will be updating about 8 millions files within about 100's of folders and I DEFINATELY DON'T WANT ALL THE FILES TO THE ROOT AFTER THE CHANGES.

Please help. Thanks

find . -type f -print | while read; do
oldfile=$(basename "$file")
newfile=$(echo "$oldfile" | sed 's/[^A-Za-z0-9_.]/_/g')
if [ ! "$newfile" == "$oldfile" ]; then
mv "$file" "$newfile"
fi
done

[coopstah13]

you are taking just the basename of the file, which is just the filename, you need the full path, you can either get the path using dirname command, or take out the basename call

[eneetr]

Hey, I am totally new to lunix/unix scripting.
Infact this is my first script ever. I have a folder
in my root directory called 'cggmaximo' which contains
another folder called 'test' and that contains few folders
called 't1' 't2' 't3'. In those t1, t2, t3 folders contains files
which have invalid characters as their file name.
I am totally confused of how I can add the dirname command within my already script. What my goal is to rename the original file name without the invalid characters and keeping it at the same location. Keeping it at the same location is very critical.

this is the path to the files: (<root>-<cggmaximo>-<test>-(<t1> and <t2> and <t3>) (those 3 folders contain several files)

I tried removing the basename but then it gives me no results.
Please if you can help me.

Thanks in advance

[coopstah13]

#!/bin/bash

for file in `find . -type f`
do
    oldfile=$(basename $file)
    dirname=$(dirname $file)
    newfile=$(echo "$oldfile" | sed 's/[^A-Za-z0-9_.]/_/g')
    if [ ! "$newfile" = "$oldfile" ]
    then
        echo "$file" "$dirname/$newfile"
    fi
done

if this is to your satisfaction, replace echo with mv

[eneetr]

when I try to run the scrip you suggested it says:

"Usage: basename string [ suffix ]
Usage: dirname [ path ]"

I tried playing with the query to change the quotes around but still coudln't get it to work.

[coopstah13]

works perfectly for me on my machine, try oldfile=`basename $file` and dirname=`dirname $file`