
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Name those Files! support renaming folders?
- Can I rename files in subfolders?
- Can I undo the renaming after NtF! has renamed the files of my source folder?
- Why does it take so long to generate new names?
- Why must I generate the new file names before I can rename my files? I’d prefer to do it all at once.
- Does Name those Files! support renaming folders?
Yes, as of v2.0, NtF! can rename folders. To use this option, you must filter the source folder list to simply include “Folders” (click the radio button next to the filter drop down button and then select “Folders” from the menu). To include folders within subfolders, also make sure to check the option to “List Subfolders”. - Can I rename files in subfolders?
Again, yes, as of v2.0, NtF! has the ability to rename files in subfolders. To add the files from subfolders, simply check the option to “List Subfolders” when building the file list. - Can I undo the renaming after NtF! has renamed the files of my source folder?
Unfortunately, using NtF! to rename files is a permanent change and cannot easily be reversed. Due to this, by default, NtF! will issue a warning before it renames your files and, in addition, this is why you must generate and review your new names before the rename feature is even active. If you are working on sensitive files, you may wish to make a backup of your files before using NtF! As of version 1.1, NtF! provides the option of appending the previous file name to the end of the comments field of the file (this can be viewed from the “Get Info” window for the file in the Finder). To enable this feature, select the appropriate option via the preferences. If you enable this option, any future files renamed using NtF! while this option is active can be reverted to their previous name using the “Revert File Name...” menu item in the “File” menu. (A planned future enhancement will allow this feature to be applied to a group of files in a source folder.) If your new names were created by simply adding a basic Prefix or Suffix to the original names, you can use the Trim feature to quickly revert the names of all the files in your source folder via NtF! - Why does it take so long to generate new names?
Generating new names will vary depending on several factors. First and foremost, of course, is the speed of your computer. In addition, NtF! will work much faster on systems running Mac OS X 10.3 or newer than older OS versions. Also, the complexity of the new name parameters (such as complex GREP settings) will impact the speed of NtF! when generating new names. While it may take a long time to generate new names for a large number of files using a complex renaming Profile, once the new names are generated, they do not need to be regenerated when the files are actually renamed so this later action is much faster. - Why must I generate the new file names before I can rename my files? I’d prefer to do it all at once.
This is a safety precaution to allow you to review the new names before they are actually applied to the files of your source folder. In addition, this makes the actual renaming of files go much more quickly. Reviewing the new names also allows you to tweak individual new names right in the file table (click on any new name to edit the new name). And, finally, this will show you if there will be any duplicate file names based on your rename parameters and allow you to determine how to handle those incidents. By default, NtF! will append a number to the end of the new name before the extension for any duplicate file names.
Copyright © 2004, 2005 Jonathan Nathan. All Rights Reserved.
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