Tip for the day: Rename files script

If you want to rename files in a directory then you can use the following perl script....

#!/usr/bin/perl
# rename: renames files according to the expr given on the command line.
# The expr will usually be a 's' or 'y' command, but can be any valid
# perl command if it makes sense. Takes a list of files to work on or
# defaults to '*' in the current directory.
# e.g.
# rename 's/\.flip$/.flop/' # rename *.flip to *.flop
# rename s/flip/flop/ # rename *flip* to *flop*
# rename 's/^s\.(.*)/$1.X/' # switch sccs filenames around
# rename 's/$/.orig/' */*.[ch] # add .orig to your source files in */
# rename 'y/A-Z/a-z/' # lowercase all filenames in .
# rename 'y/A-Z/a-z/ if -B' # same, but just binaries!
# rename chop *~ # restore all ~ backup files

use Getopt::Std;
my ($subst, $name);

if (!&getopts("nfq") || $#ARGV == -1) {
die "Usage: rename [-fnq] [file file...]
-f : Force the new filename even if it exists already
-n : Just print what would happen, but don't do the command
-q : Don't print the files as they are renamed
e.g. : rename 's/\.c/.c.old/' *
rename -q 'y/A-Z/a-z/' *\n";
}

$subst = shift; # Get perl command to work on
@ARGV = <*> if $#ARGV < 0; # Default to complete directory

foreach $name (@ARGV) {
$_ = $name;
eval "$subst;";
die $@ if $@;
next if -e $_ && !$opt_f; # Skip if the file exists if asked to.
mext if $_ eq $name;
if ($opt_n) {
print "mv $name $_\n";
next;
}
print "mv $name $_\n" if !$opt_q;
rename($name,$_) or warn "Can't rename $name to $_, $!\n";
}

Put the script called rename in /usr/local/bin. Make sure /usr/local/bin is in your $PATH for convenience.