renaming question...

[fbungarz]

I have rather naively tried to use rename a bunch of files using a macro, and the result was a complete mess that forced me to restore the files from backup.

Here is what I do want to achieve:

I three versions of the same file, triplets of JPEG, NEF & DNG, all part of one and the same version set, occasionally an additional print version.
They are named like this: prefix_sequencenumber.extension, e.g.:
...
FB_0123.JPG
FB_0123.NEF
FB_0123.DNG

FB_0124.JPG
FB_0124.NEF
FB_0124.DNG

FB_0125.JPG
FB_0125_print.JPG
FB_0125.NEF
FB_0125.DNG

FB_0126.JPG
FB_0126.NEF
FB_0126.DNG

Now these files have a barcode embedded in their xmp metadata, e.g., ASU0069276, ASU0067246.
Triplet 1 & 2 correspond to a specimen with one barcode, the next triplet to a different specimen. Meaning I took several images for one barcode, others images that correspond o a different barcode.
I tried to rename the files using that barcode plus a unique sequence number, like this:
...
ASU0069276-001.jpg
ASU0069276-001.NEF
ASU0069276-001.DNG

ASU0069276-002.jpg
ASU0069276-002.NEF
ASU0069276-002.DNG

ASU0067246-001.JPG
ASU0067246-001_print.JPG
ASU0067246-001.NEF
ASU0067246-001.DNG

ASU0069276-003.jpg
ASU0069276-003.NEF
ASU0069276-003.DNG

I thought this renaming rule would do the job:

Code: Select all

%xmp:dwc:Occurrence.dwc:catalogNumber%ImageNumber{offset=1;length=3;increment=1;reset=never}.%FileExtension

The first part, I assumed, would pull the Barcode number from the XMP field, then the second part add a sequence number...
Well, this resulted in a complete mess.

Any suggestions?

[Hert]

One of the files had a “print” suffix in its name while your rename rule doesn’t show any signs of that. In other words; that rename rule can never lead to the examples you show.

You can’t use sequence number if you don’t want a sequence number. Sequence numbers will increment for every file but in your example list the number is fixed for a few files and then increments and holds again before incrementing again.

A rule for your files would require scripting as there apparently are rules when a sequence number can increment. But that may be too advanced for a novice.

Personally I would use a rename rule to replace FB_ with your macro. Then in a second step replace the numbers with a new number.

[fbungarz]

Personally I would use a rename rule to replace FB_ with your macro. Then in a second step replace the numbers with a new number.

OK, I will try that out on a sample...

[Hert]

Today build 3163 was released (download and install from website).
This build now offers an extra parameter: Skip. This parameter can be helpful for you.

Your rename rule would then become:

Code: Select all

%xmp:dwc:Occurrence.dwc:catalogNumber%ImageNumber{offset=1;length=3;increment=1;skip=samefilename;reset=never}.%FileExtension

This means that no number increment takes place when the filename to rename is the same as that from the previous file.

ImageNumberSkip.png (25.67 KiB) Viewed 744 times

[fbungarz]

Hi Hert,
this is great. Thanks for implementing it. I have not yet had the time to try it out, but it seems this is exactly what I need.
Thanks again,
Frank