Batch add suffix to PDF files in folder

Dave T · #1 02-29-2016, 09:34 PM

Hello All,

I am after a *.bat file that will add some specific text before the .PDF extension.

For example I have hundreds of PDF's in a folder with different names, that look similar to the following:
PN00001.pdf
PN00123.pdf
PN00234.pdf

I would like to change them to by adding a ' - Calculations' suffix:
PN00001 - Calculations.pdf
PN00123 - Calculations.pdf
PN00234 - Calculations.pdf

I have previously used a bat file to create a text file of all the files with the folder it is run from and am hoping the PDF suffix file can be placed in a specific folder and only rename these PDF's that are within that folder.

Code:

dir /a /b /-p /o:gen >C:\WINDOWS\Temp\file_list.txt
start notepad C:\WINDOWS\Temp\file_list.txt

Any suggestions appreciated.

Regards,
Dave T

macropod · #2 03-01-2016, 07:49 PM

Only because I'm rusty on the batch processing language, I'd be inclined to generate a file listing, then open the file in Word and use a wildcard Find/Replace, where:
Find = (<[A-Z0-9]@>)(.pdf)
Replace = REN \1\2 ^34\1 - Calculations\2^34
Then save the file and run it as a batch file.

Dave T · #3 03-01-2016, 08:07 PM

Hello Paul,

I appreciate your reply.

I have never really had much to do with batch processing language either, but I found some examples that I was able to modify to suit my needs, although it probably can be done better.
The following adds ' - Capacity Calculations' before the .pdf extension, whilst retaining the original file name:

Code:

 
@ECHO OFF
REN *.pdf *.
REN *. *" - Capacity Calculations".
REN *. *.pdf

To sort the various PDF's I have had to pad the numbers out so there are five digits after the PN prefix. Again I found an example I was able to modify:

Code:

@echo off
setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion
rem iterate over all PDF files:
for %%f in (*.pdf) do (
    rem store file name without extension
    set FileName=%%~nf
    rem strip the "PN"
    set FileName=!FileName:PN=!
    rem Add leading zeroes:
    set FileName=00000!FileName!
    rem Trim to only four digits, from the end
    set FileName=!FileName:~-5!
    rem Add "PN" and extension again
    set FileName=PN!FileName!%%~xf
    rem Rename the file
    rename "%%f" "!FileName!"
)

There probably are better methods out there but these two batch files get me through.

I will mark this post as solved, but am still hoping someone can show me a better way.

Regards,
Dave T

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