asked on

Remove special characters from multiple files batch script solution works on everything but '~'

We have a client who needs to rename thousands of files in order to upload them to SharePoint and many of those files contain tildes(~).

I have used the script suggested in the related question to replace many different characters in a filename, but it doesn't work on tildes even if it is preceded by a ^ to make it a literal.

Here's the script from the other response. I modified it to allow a second parameter to pass in the desired character to replace. Whether I use a parameter or the literal ^~, it doesn't work:

@echo off

setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

if "%~1"=="" (
      echo # ERROR - supply the directory from which to begin the search for
      echo filenames containing the ampersand symbol. Any file
      echo encountered with have the ampersand replaced by 'and'.
      goto :EOF
)

if not exist "%~1" (
      echo # ERROR - directory NOT found
      echo = '%~1'
      goto :EOF
)

echo/
echo + Parsing "%~1", please wait ...

for /f "tokens=*" %%F in ('dir "%~1" /s/b') do (
      set fileNAME=%%F
      set newFILEname=!fileNAME:^%2= !
      if not "!newFILEname!"=="!fileNAME!" (
            for /f "tokens=*" %%N in ("!newFILENAME!") do (
                  echo + renaming "!fileNAME!" to "!newFILEname!"
                  ren "!fileNAME!" "%%~nxN"
                  if not errorlevel 1 (
                        echo - SUCCESS
                  ) else (
                        echo # FAILED to rename "!fileNAME!"
                  )
            )
      )
)

echo - COMPLETE

sungenwang

Not sure why it doesn't work with '~' in batch command. If you are willing to try running vbscript it is very simple to do. I have included the code to do it:

1. Copy the code into notepad
2. Change line 1, 2, and 3 to appropriate value (set it to a 'test' path first!)
3. Save the change to a file with a "vbs" extension.
4. Double-click the file to run it.

You can change the first 3 lines to replace different symbols. Beware as this code will also change files in sub-folders! Remove line 19-21 if you don't need that.

sew

strFolderName = "C:\temp"
strCharToFind = "~"
strCharToReplaceWith = "_tilda_"

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Call TraverseFolder(strFolderName)

Sub TraverseFolder(strFolderName)
	Set objCurrentFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(strFolderName)

	For Each objFile In objCurrentFolder.Files
		If InStr(objFile.name, strCharToFind) > 0 Then
			strNewName = Replace(objFile.name, strCharToFind, strCharToReplaceWith)
			objFSO.MoveFile objFile.ParentFolder & "\" & objFile.name, objFile.ParentFolder & "\" & strNewName
		End If
	Next

	For Each objFolder In objCurrentFolder.subFolders
		Call TraverseFolder(objFolder.ParentFolder & "\" & objFolder.name)
	Next
End Sub

msgbox "done"

Open in new window

AmazingTech

Instead of replacing the tilda with a space how about just removing the tilda?

@echo off
 
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION


if "%~1"=="" (
      echo # ERROR - supply the directory from which to begin the search for
      echo           filenames containing the ampersand symbol.  Any file
      echo           encountered with have the ampersand replaced by 'and'.
      goto :EOF
)
 
if not exist "%~1" (
      echo # ERROR - directory NOT found
      echo          = '%~1'
      goto :EOF
)
 
echo/
echo + Parsing "%~1", please wait ...
 
for /f "tokens=*" %%F in ('dir "%~1" /s/b') do (
      echo %%F | find "%2"
      if not errorlevel 1 (
          for /f "tokens=1,2,3,4,5,6,7 delims=%2" %%G in ('echo %%~nxF') do (
              set newFILEname=%%G%%H%%I%%J%%K%%L%%M
              echo   + renaming "%%F" to "!newFILEname!"
              ren "%%F" "!newFILEname!"
              if not errorlevel 1 (
                  echo     - SUCCESS
              ) else (
                  echo     # FAILED to rename "!fileNAME!"
              )
          )
      )

)
 
echo - COMPLETE

Open in new window

Bill Prew

Here's a quick example of a way you can remove the unwanted ~ characters from a string in batch.

~bp

@echo off
set Test=Foo~Bar~Rest
echo [%Test%]
for /F "tokens=1-10* delims=~" %%A in ("%Test%") do set Test=%%A%%B%%C%%D%%E%%F%%G%%H%%I%%J
echo [%Test%]

Open in new window

misterlupo

If you don't mind to use a 3rd party application try tr.exe from the GNU utilities for Win32 to remove unwanted characters from the stream.

C:\>set test=One~Two*Three-Four
C:\>echo %test%|tr -d "~"
OneTwo*Three-Four

C:\>echo %test%|tr -d "~*-"
OneTwoThreeFour

MAdS

Replace
set newFILEname=!fileNAME:^%2= !
by
set newFILEname=%fileNAME:^%2= %
And you can pass only ~ as parameter (^~ is not necessary, but doesn't hurt either).

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

cpgtechsupport

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial