ReRenamer (Tkinter)

ReRenamer is a simple, cross‑platform desktop app for batch renaming files and folders. It supports classic Find/Replace, regular expressions, numbering templates, and parent-folder placeholders. You can keep items AutoSorted or manually reorder them via drag‑and‑drop to create precise sequences.

• GUI: Tkinter (Python standard library)
• Cross‑platform name validation for Windows/macOS/Linux
• Favorites and History for quick reuse
• Multi‑step Undo for safety

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Requirements
• Installation
• Running
• Usage
  • Scope: Name, Extension, Both
  • AutoSort vs. Manual Reordering
  • Templates: Numbering and Parent Names
• Regex Examples
• OS Notes (Windows/macOS/Linux)
• Configuration and Persistence
• License

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Features

• Find/Replace with:
  • Regular expressions or literal matching
  • Case sensitivity toggle
  • Scope: Name only, Extension only, or Name + Extension
• Templates:
  • Numbering with zero padding: <###:start:step> (e.g., <001:1:1>, <###:10:5>)
  • Parent folder names: <p:n> (or legacy <parent:n>), where n is the depth
• Preview table with color status:
  • Gray = unchanged, Green = OK to rename, Red = conflict
• Ordering modes:
  • AutoSort (natural sorting, if available)
  • Manual reordering by drag‑and‑drop with precise insert indicator
• Batch rename with multi‑step Undo
• Drag & drop to add items (when tkinterdnd2 is installed)

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Requirements

• Python 3.10+ (3.11 recommended)
  • Reason: the code uses PEP 604 union types with the | operator in type hints, which requires Python 3.10 or newer.
• Tkinter:
  • Windows: included with standard Python from python.org
  • macOS: included with python.org installer; with Homebrew Python you may need brew install tcl-tk
  • Linux: install system package (e.g., sudo apt-get install python3-tk)
• Optional Python modules:
  • tkinterdnd2 for drag & drop
  • natsort for natural sorting

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Installation

1. Ensure Python (3.10+) is installed and Tkinter is available (see Requirements).
2. Clone or download this repository.
3. (Optional) Create and activate a virtual environment:
   • macOS/Linux:

     python3 -m venv .venv
     source .venv/bin/activate

   • Windows (PowerShell):

     py -m venv .venv
     .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

4. Install optional modules:

   pip install tkinterdnd2 natsort

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Running

Run the app from the project directory:

python ReRenamer.py

or

python -m ReRenamer

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Usage

Add Items

• Use buttons:
  • “Add Files…”
  • “Add Folders…”
• Or drag and drop files/folders into the window (requires tkinterdnd2)

The app enforces uniform type by default: you cannot mix files and folders in a single batch (to prevent ambiguous renames). You can adjust this behavior in code if needed.

Options

• Case Sensitive: toggles case sensitivity for matching
• Regex: switches between regular expression matching and literal matching
• AutoSort:
  • On: keeps the table auto‑sorted (natural sort if natsort is installed)
  • Off: preserves your custom order and enables manual drag‑and‑drop reordering

Scope: Name, Extension, Both

• Name only: apply Find/Replace to the base name (without the dot and extension)
• Extension only: apply Find/Replace to the extension part
• Name + Extension: treat the entire file name (including extension) as a single string

Notes:

• When “Extension only” is selected, the app normalizes the dot and extension correctly.
• When “Name + Extension” is selected, the app splits the result back into name and extension safely, following OS rules.

AutoSort vs. Manual Reordering

• AutoSort ON:
  • Items are sorted automatically and continuously.
  • Drag‑and‑drop reordering is disabled.
• AutoSort OFF:
  • Your table order is preserved.
  • Drag‑and‑drop reordering is enabled; use it to create precise sequences (e.g., when building numbered series). A blue horizontal line shows the exact insertion point. Multi‑selection is respected.

Apply and Undo

• “Apply Rules” performs the actual renaming on disk.
• Conflicts are highlighted in red and must be resolved (invalid names, duplicates, or existing targets).
• “Undo” supports:
  • Reverting the latest rename batch
  • Restoring recently removed or added items

Favorites and History

• Save your current Find/Replace options as a Favorite.
• Quickly recall recent configurations from History (most recent preserved up to a limit).

Templates: Numbering and Parent Names

You can use templates inside the Replace field. Templates are expanded per item during preview/rename.

• Numbering: <###:start:step>

  • Number of # defines zero‑padding width.
  • start is the initial number (default: 1).
  • step is the increment (default: 1).
  • Examples:
    • Replace: photo_<###:1:1> → photo_001, photo_002, …
    • Replace: ep-<##:10:5> → ep-10, ep-15, ep-20, …

• Parent folder name: <p:n> (or <parent:n>)

  • n = 1 uses the immediate parent folder’s name
  • n = 2 uses the grandparent, etc.
  • Examples:
    • Replace: <p:1>_#<###:1:1> → Album_#001, Album_#002, …
    • Replace: <p:2>-<p:1>_<##> → Project-Album_01, …

You can combine templates with Regex or literal replacement. Templates are expanded before applying numbering increments, and numbering increases only for items where a replacement occurred.

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Regex Examples

Assume the following sample inputs to illustrate the results.

1. Remove a fixed prefix:

• Find (Regex off): prefix_
• Replace: (empty)
• From: prefix_report.txt → report.txt

2. Swap date order from YYYY-MM-DD to DD-MM-YYYY:

• Find (Regex on): (\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})
• Replace: \3-\2-\1
• From: 2023-07-14_notes.txt → 14-07-2023_notes.txt

3. Keep only digits from a part:

• Scope: Name only
• Find (Regex on): \D+
• Replace: (empty)
• From: item-12a-34b → 1234

4. Change extension from .jpeg or .jpg to .jpg consistently:

• Scope: Extension only
• Find (Regex on): jpe?g
• Replace: jpg
• From: image.JPEG → image.jpg (case‑sensitivity depends on the toggle)

5. Insert numbering and keep the original name:

• Replace: <###:1:1>_<p:1>_<p:2>_<###:1:1>
  Example result: 001_Album_Project_002_filename.ext
  Note: numbering increases only where a substitution matched.

6. Extract and reorder parts with groups:

• Find (Regex on): (\w+)-(\d+)
• Replace: \2_\1
• From: alpha-42.txt → 42_alpha.txt

Tips:

• Use ^ and $ anchors for start/end of the string.
• Use lookaheads/lookbehinds for context without capturing, e.g., (?<=prefix)_ or foo(?=bar).

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OS Notes (Windows/macOS/Linux)

• Invalid characters and reserved names:
  • Windows: forbids <>:"/\|?* and control chars; reserved names like CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1…, LPT1…
  • Linux/macOS: / and NUL are invalid in names
• Trailing spaces/dots:
  • Not allowed on Windows
• Case sensitivity:
  • The app detects duplicates case‑insensitively on Windows/macOS (by default) and case‑sensitively on Linux
• Existing targets:
  • Renames that would overwrite existing paths are flagged as conflicts
• Cross‑volume rename:
  • Path.rename may fail when moving between different drives/volumes on Windows. If needed, implement a copy‑and‑delete fallback.
• Case‑only renames (e.g., file.txt → File.txt) on case‑insensitive file systems can be tricky; the app tries to handle it, but a two‑step rename may be required in some edge cases.

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Configuration and Persistence

• Config directory: ~/.rerename/
  • favorites.json — saved presets (Find/Replace + options)
  • history.json — recent configurations (newest last)
• These files are written in UTF‑8 JSON.

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License

MIT License. See LICENSE.