I am editing the file names for .mp3 files stored on My Cloud. Each entry is a date followed by the name of the audio file (SEE BELOW). I am going crazy trying to edit these names because the software is so cumbersome. If I change one character, or a dozen, the cursor jumps back to the first line of the entire listing. Since code (SNT) and the dates NEVER change, it cannot be a problem about alphabetization. So I make a change and then I have to manually page down page after page to find where I had worked the last time. Ideally I would be able to do a search/replace for characters which all need to be changed (from capital to lower case, for example). Do you know of ANY way that I can make my changes and not have the cursor go back to the beginning of the entire file list? Thank you.
EXAMPLE (with mistakes that I need to change):
SNT 12-01-1978 Title goes here.mp3
SNT 12-08-1979 next Title here.mp3
SNT 12-21-1976 new Title GEOS here,mp3
end example.
I assume ‘the software’ you are using is the WD Desktop app. Don’t use it if you are working locally to your network.
Map the drive into your file system.
Use your favourite file manager. Windows File Explorer will not change the position of the list context.
How many files do you have in the diredctory?
To do that, I’d use Unix scripting.
I’d use ls to make a list of all mp3 files.
I’d edit this list to put quotes around each file name.
I’d run tr on this file to convert lower to upper, and save as a new file.
I’d edit the first file to replace the first quote with mv '
I’d use paste the paste two files side-by-side to generate a rename_bat file. This will consist of a set of unix mv old_name new_name commands to change the file names.
I’d make that file executable, and then execute it.
Proper unix gurus will probably tell you how to do that with a single command line script, but I’m just a hacker…
[edit] you may have to make sure that this renaming doesn’t result in one file being oerwritten (e.g. if there are two files with the same name, barring case distinction. (or add the -n option to the mv command to pevent overwrite)
You may be able to use a bulk file rename program. Like this one: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php
Another option is to use something like MP3Tag to manually edit the file names. It will advance to the next next file name when manually editing and one hits the return/enter key.
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/
What method are you using to change the names? Your example should show the original names followed by the new names. This way we can get a better idea of what you are trying to accomplish.
