asked on

powershell script to rename files in specified folder

in my folder C:\Flora\Downloads i have pdf files with website link with it.

i need help with powershell so that when i run it, it removes are URLs and replaces the addtional dots / with spaces.

C:\Flora\Downloads

PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com
PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com
PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com
PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com
PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com
PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com
PRODUCTAB.EAST.BRE.www.producteast.com

so the end result should look like this
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE
PRODUCTAB EAST BRE

Bill Prew

These are file names, right?

And is the URL always "www.producteast.com", or does it vary from file to file?

»bp

Bill Prew

Or are you trying to change content within a PDF file?

»bp

Flora Edwards

ASKER

the URL varies file to file, also the file names are not always EAST, it can be WEST, SOUTH etc.
what i am looking for is that to remove anything that starts with www and ends with .com and also all the dots to be replaced with spaces.

Shaun Vermaak

$files = Get-ChildItem;
foreach($file in $files){
    $newName = "$($file.Name.replace(".www","|").split('|')[0])".trim();
    $extension = [IO.Path]::GetExtension($file.Name);
    $newFileName = "$($newName)$($extension)";
    Rename-Item $file.FullName $newName
}

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Arana (G.P.)

clever removing the last portion after the www, then just renaming the first portion

oBdA

Using a regular expression; can be started repeatedly without throwing errors if there are files without the URL.
It's in test mode and will only display what it would do; remove the -WhatIf to run it for real.

$RegEx = '(?<Name>.+?)\.www\..+\.com\Z'
Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Flora\Downloads' -Filter *.pdf | Where-Object {$_.BaseName -match $RegEx} | ForEach-Object {
	Rename-Item $_.FullName -NewName "$($Matches['Name'].Replace('.', ' '))$($_.Extension)" -WhatIf
}

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Flora Edwards

ASKER

thanks a alot everyone

Flora Edwards

ASKER

@oBdA

is this regex going to work in powershell?

oBdA

Yes; it's a PowerShell script, after all.

Flora Edwards

ASKER

@Shaun
how do i run your code?

i went to powershell then logged in the directory with cd

then pasted your code and it did not change anything

Flora Edwards

ASKER

oBdA

when i run your code, i get the following result at the end of code and inside folder nothing happens.

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At line:4 char:38
+ ... em $_.FullName -NewName "$($Matches['Name'].Replace('.', ' '))$($_.Ex ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

oBdA

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Flora Edwards

ASKER

oBdA

you are truly a genius!

removed -WhatIf and it worked like a charm.
is there any poweshell command book i can buy and learn it?

Bill Prew

Check out these two earlier questions on Experts Exchange, lots of useful info and links.

»bp