I have a series of file names and directory names in the same directory. There are differences but all of them are similar in that each has "Part nn" in the text where nn is the ordinal number.
I discovered I had duplicated number 41 out of a total of 63, making 63 into 64. I am trying to correct the mistake using the Multi-Rename Tool.
I cannot quite figure out the target and replacement values. Entering "Part ??" specifies the target well enough, but there is no template that does what I want, e.g. "Part ??-1". That doesn't work, by the way. Neither does ##-1 or <nn-1> or anything else.
I am currently researching through the help file, but this is becoming one of those problems wherewith I could have solved gruelingly by hand in the time it is taking me to figure out how to do it in the time-saving tool. OK, so this is time lost already, but if I run into a problem like this in the future, I would like to know how to solve it using the Multi-Rename Tool.
To reiterate, if you have a series of file names and/or directory names all with the same ordinal portion and the ordinal indicator (numeric and/or alphabetic) needs to be increased or decreased, what template needs to be entered into the Multi-Rename Tool? Fifty pocket protector points to whomever produces the first working solution.
Later:
OK, I was able to solve it in two steps using "[N1-20][C][N23-]" with the Counter values set to 41/1/1. But I still had to do it twice, once for the directory names at the top of the directory and again for the file names below. I tried doing them all at once and the directory names were re-ordinated properly to 41-63 but the file names below ended up with 64-86 instead of being reduced to 41-63. Having the ability to change an ordinal in the Search&Replace function would be great, but I can't find any mention of such in the instructions, as I mentioned before "Part [nn]" to "Part [nn-1]".
Reducing ordinal numbers in file names
Moderators: Hacker, petermad, Stefan2, white
Granted, this was a rather unusual situation. File names with matching directory names all within the same directory do not occur very often. I was able to use a Counter renumbering in two passes. Otherwise, I suppose besides creating a new function within the Regular Expression framework which would require prohibitive amount of time for review, acceptance and finalization, you would need to add a special operator to the Search & Replace function. Aside from a situation as I had created for myself, how often is one faced with the need for such a tool? You are correct in not considering it for inclusion. Had I gone through the two step process initially, as I did at the conclusion, the problem would have been solved in under a minute. I ended up wasting many minutes of my own time and yours searching for a solution that was neither available nor needed. Many thanks.