Re: Easy way to rename files sequentially?

[jadamson@partners.org (Joel J. Adamson)]

Thierry Volpiatto <thierry.volpiatto@gmail.com> writes:

> jadamson@partners.org (Joel J. Adamson) writes:
>
>> reader@newsguy.com writes:
>>
>>> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
>>>
>>>> You should be able to use the \, construct to invoke `format' or some
>>>> similar function and advance the counter.  See the example in
>>>
>>> Thats not available in dired either is it?
>>
>> M-x wdired-change-to-wdired-mode
>>
>> and then you can edit filenames freely as you would edit a file,
>> i.e. you can use any of the search and replace functions.  To rename
>> files sequentially, as long as they are in the order you expect them to
>> be, you can use a regex with "\#" which represents the number of
>> substitutions.
>>
>> Joel
>
> It work really well with "\#", thank you Joel.

[...]

You're welcome, I'm glad to help.

> So which one is the counter, "\" or "#" ?
>

`\' and `#' together are a symbol meaning a counter in a replacement
pattern.  `\,' is the construct that says "LISP IS COMING!"

In case I failed to mention, I often use `(string-to-int \1)' for
addition, e.g.

\,(+ \# (string-to-int \1))

to add number of replacements to the captured regex.

Joel
-- 
Joel J. Adamson
Biostatistician
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Unit
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA  02114
(617) 643-1432
(303) 880-3109

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