A Script to Batch Rename Multiple Files Using an Editor

When you start the program, a list of files is displayed in the editor. You can modify and save the list.

The program will rename the files according to your modifications.

Usage:

bulk-rename
bulk-rename *.txt
bulk-rename temp/

The arguments are passed directly to the ls command.

Be careful as using options like -l might cause issues.

It seems safe to strip any /-w+/ patterns if they're given as arguments.

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import subprocess
import sys
import os
TEMP_FILE_NAME = '/tmp/bulk-rename-file-names'
EDITOR = 'vim'
def main():
command_result = subprocess.check_output(["ls", "-1"] + sys.argv[1:])
file_names = command_result.splitlines()
with open(TEMP_FILE_NAME, 'w') as fp:
    fp.write('\n'.join(file_names))

subprocess.check_call([os.environ.get('EDITOR', EDITOR), TEMP_FILE_NAME])

with open(TEMP_FILE_NAME, 'r') as fp:
    destination_file_names = fp.readlines()

for source, destination in zip(file_names, destination_file_names):
    if source and destination:
        destination = destination.strip()
        if source != destination:
            print "{} -> {}".format(source, destination)
            os.rename(source, destination)

os.unlink(TEMP_FILE_NAME)

if name == 'main':
main()