Search code examples
linuxbashrenamefile-rename

How to rename folders with name DD.MM.YYYY-X to YYMMDDIX on bash?

I have folders inside a directory with names having the pattern DD.MM.YYYY-X where X refers to an index from 0-9 to distinguish folders with names having the same date.

How could I use regex on bash to replace this pattern with YYMMDDIX where

  • I is an actual I to signal that what follows is the index of the folder
  • YY is the last two numbers in YYYY
  • DD and MM are the same as in the original name
Solution

  • Running this script in the same directory containing folders with names having the pattern DD.MM.YYYY-X will copy those folders in the same directory with naming syntax you requested.

    script2.sh file containing the following

    #!/bin/bash

for dir in $(find . -maxdepth 1 -name "*-*"  -type d -exec basename {} \;) ;do
  dd=$(cut -d'.' -f1 <<< "${dir}")
  mm=$(cut -d'.' -f2 <<< "${dir}")
  yyyy=$(cut -d'.' -f3 <<< "${dir}" | cut -d'-' -f1)
  yy="${yyyy: -2}"
  x="${dir: -1}"

  cp -rvi "${dir}" "${yy}${mm}${dd}I${x}"
done

exit 0

    Script Output

    '22.12.1983-1' -> '831222I1'
'22.12.1982-1' -> '821222I1'
'22.12.1983-0' -> '831222I0'
'22.12.1982-2' -> '821222I2'

    ls output after running script

    22.12.1982-1  22.12.1982-2  22.12.1983-0  22.12.1983-1  821222I1  821222I2  831222I0  831222I1 script2.sh

    Recommendation (Update #1)

    It is recommended to update and use unique variable names. Like with a _ prefix.

    Here dd= variable can be changed to _dd=... to avoid conflicting/confusing with the dd command.