Renaming batch names removing extensions

Hello, I have multiple file names that were accidently labeled with a '.' in them, and my other scripts will no longer recognize the file name correctly. I need to remove the '.' fromt he file names in large batches, about 400 files at a time in a folder.

For example, I need a way to make a batch like this:

1801_pH6.25-pos2-041-seg
1801_pH6.25-pos2-042-seg
1801_pH6.25-pos2-043-seg
1801_pH6.25-pos2-044-seg

into a batch with just the "." removed like this:

1801_pH625-pos2-041-seg
1801_pH625-pos2-042-seg
1801_pH625-pos2-043-seg
1801_pH625-pos2-044-seg

I am new to matlab and have no idea how to accomplish this, any and all help would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Answer 1

[dpb]

Job for command. Make a .cmd batch file from the following--name DORENAME.CMD or somesuch...

echo off
setlocal
for %f in (1801*.25*) do (
set filename=%~xf%
set newname=%filename:.=-%
ren %f% %newname%
)
endlocal
echo on

Execute the above for each directory containing files...I built in a matching wildcard pattern to your example--if all the files in the subdirectory are affected, then *.* would work just as well. If there are differing names you could pass the appropriate wild card as a parameter and use it instead of hardcoded value.

Each filename %f% returned from the directory search is save in temporary environment variable and then the new name built by character substitution of the hyphen for the period/dot. Then those are used to RENAME the file.

You could write similar logic in ML using the DIR() structure but there isn't a direct support to the REN command built into ML so you have to COPYFILE then delete the old one which is an extra step.

[Guillaume]

I agree with dpb this is a job better done outside matlab. There are also plenty of batch rename utilities available to download that would completely remove the need to write any code.

[Christopher Hamm]

dpb was correct, it was much easier to use a bulk utility renamins software that was free. Had to do each file partition seperately, but it was easy and relatively painless. Thank you!

[dpb]

Yeah...I just gave a rudimentary .CMD file instead of looking to find an available utility.

I use the JPSoftware command line replacement for the MS CMD shell which has all these kinds of features built into a much more powerful and easier to use command syntax so have all the tools at hand...

Answer 2

[Image Analyst]

Try this

% Specify the folder where the files live.
myFolder = 'C:\Users\yourUserName\Documents\My Pictures';
% Check to make sure that folder actually exists.  Warn user if it doesn't.
if ~isfolder(myFolder)
	errorMessage = sprintf('Error: The following folder does not exist:\n%s', myFolder);
	uiwait(warndlg(errorMessage));
	return;
end
% Get a list of all files in the folder with the desired file name pattern.
filePattern = fullfile(myFolder, '*.*'); % Change to whatever pattern you need.
theFiles = dir(filePattern);
for k = 1 : length(theFiles)
	baseFileName = theFiles(k).name;
	originalFullFileName = fullfile(myFolder, baseFileName);
	% If there is no dot, skip it.
	if ~contains(baseFileName, '.')
		continue; % Skip to bottom of loop.
	end
	% If it gets to here, there is a dot in the name.
	% Remove it
	newBaseFileName = baseFileName; % Initialize
	newBaseFileName(baseFileName == '.') = [];
	newFullFileName = fullfile(myFolder, newBaseFileName);
	fprintf(1, 'Now renaming %s to %s\n', originalFullFileName, newFullFileName);
	movefile(originalFullFileName, newFullFileName); % Do the rename.
end

I just adapted the FAQ: https://matlab.fandom.com/wiki/FAQ#How_can_I_process_a_sequence_of_files.3F

You might also want to do all folder and subfolders all in one shot, instead of a folder at a time, using fileDatastore.