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Windows Forum / Windows Vista / General Topics / May 2008Command Line Ren (Rename) command broken?
I'm having trouble with the REN command with wild cards as used from the command prompt. For example, in the REN command help, it says: "For example, if you had files that are named smitha.doc, smithb.doc, and smithc.doc, you could use the ren smith*.doc smythe*.doc command. All file names automatically show the new spelling, and are renamed smythea.doc, smytheb.doc, and smythec.doc." If I try the example, exactly as described, I don't end up with smythea.doc, smytheb.doc, and smythec.doc. Instead, when I create three files named smitha.doc, smithb.doc, and smithc.doc and then execute the command: ren smith*.doc smythe*.doc I get: C:\TestREN>ren smith*.doc smythe*.doc A duplicate file name exists, or the file cannot be found. A duplicate file name exists, or the file cannot be found. C:\TestREN>dir Volume in drive C is OS Volume Serial Number is 0A07-21F5 Directory of C:\TestREN 05/17/2008 04:04 PM <DIR> . 05/17/2008 04:04 PM <DIR> .. 05/17/2008 04:03 PM 0 Smithb.doc 05/17/2008 04:03 PM 0 Smithc.doc 05/17/2008 04:03 PM 0 smythe.doc 0 File(s) 0 bytes 2 Dir(s) 48,010,428,416 bytes free C:\TestREN> This isn't how I recall REN working in previous versions of Windows. Anyone know if the REN command has changed or been broken? Hi, Works fine for me here. Looking at your DIR results, it appears the wildcard character, "a", wasn't carried on the first one. I just replicated your test and here are the results: Directory of C:\TestREN 05/17/2008 09:11 PM <DIR> . 05/17/2008 09:11 PM <DIR> .. 05/17/2008 09:11 PM 9,863 Test1.docx 05/17/2008 09:11 PM 9,887 Test2.docx 05/17/2008 09:11 PM 9,895 Test3.docx 3 File(s) 29,645 bytes 2 Dir(s) 77,118,971,904 bytes free C:\TestREN>ren test*.docx work*.docx C:\TestREN>dir Volume in drive C has no label. Volume Serial Number is 2176-638D Directory of C:\TestREN 05/17/2008 09:12 PM <DIR> . 05/17/2008 09:12 PM <DIR> .. 05/17/2008 09:11 PM 9,863 work1.docx 05/17/2008 09:11 PM 9,887 work2.docx 05/17/2008 09:11 PM 9,895 work3.docx 3 File(s) 29,645 bytes 2 Dir(s) 77,118,185,472 bytes free  SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com I'm having trouble with the REN command with wild cards as used from the command prompt. For example, in the REN command help, it says: "For example, if you had files that are named smitha.doc, smithb.doc, and smithc.doc, you could use the ren smith*.doc smythe*.doc command. All file names automatically show the new spelling, and are renamed smythea.doc, smytheb.doc, and smythec.doc." If I try the example, exactly as described, I don't end up with smythea.doc, smytheb.doc, and smythec.doc. Instead, when I create three files named smitha.doc, smithb.doc, and smithc.doc and then execute the command: ren smith*.doc smythe*.doc I get: C:\TestREN>ren smith*.doc smythe*.doc A duplicate file name exists, or the file cannot be found. A duplicate file name exists, or the file cannot be found. C:\TestREN>dir Volume in drive C is OS Volume Serial Number is 0A07-21F5 Directory of C:\TestREN 05/17/2008 04:04 PM <DIR> . 05/17/2008 04:04 PM <DIR> .. 05/17/2008 04:03 PM 0 Smithb.doc 05/17/2008 04:03 PM 0 Smithc.doc 05/17/2008 04:03 PM 0 smythe.doc 0 File(s) 0 bytes 2 Dir(s) 48,010,428,416 bytes free C:\TestREN> This isn't how I recall REN working in previous versions of Windows. Anyone know if the REN command has changed or been broken? Your test didn't test the same thing. You had 5 character filenames before and after the rename, i.e., the lenght of the filename didn't change. In the case described in help, they renamed 6 character filenames to 7 character filenames. It should have worked as they described, but it didn't. Try the test again, renaming SMITH?.DOC to SMYTHE?.doc. It used to work fine; now it doesn't. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 72 lines] > This isn't how I recall REN working in previous versions of Windows. > Anyone know if the REN command has changed or been broken? You're right, it appears to be an exact character replacement only. It goes the other way as well, if the target name is shorter, the remaining characters on the original are carried over as well, ie: ren test*.docx wor*.docx results in a file name of wort1.docx. I'll see what I can find out about this. SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com > Your test didn't test the same thing. You had 5 character filenames > before and after the rename, i.e., the lenght of the filename didn't [quoted text clipped - 79 lines] >> This isn't how I recall REN working in previous versions of Windows. >> Anyone know if the REN command has changed or been broken? Ok, had it tried in XPGold/XPSP1/XPSP2/Server2003/Server2008 and they all exhibit the same behavior. Didn't have a Win2K system available. I suspect this is the way the command works. SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com > You're right, it appears to be an exact character replacement only. It > goes the other way as well, if the target name is shorter, the remaining [quoted text clipped - 88 lines] >>> This isn't how I recall REN working in previous versions of Windows. >>> Anyone know if the REN command has changed or been broken? Hi, An additional thought is to add a character space before renaming: C:\TestREN>dir Volume in drive C has no label. Volume Serial Number is 2176-638D Directory of C:\TestREN 05/20/2008 06:49 AM <DIR> . 05/20/2008 06:49 AM <DIR> .. 05/18/2008 07:52 AM 9,863 test1.docx 05/18/2008 07:52 AM 9,888 test2.docx 05/18/2008 07:52 AM 9,894 test3.docx 3 File(s) 29,645 bytes 2 Dir(s) 77,142,429,696 bytes free C:\TestREN>for %l in (*.*) do ren %l _%l C:\TestREN>ren test1.docx _test1.docx C:\TestREN>ren test2.docx _test2.docx C:\TestREN>ren test3.docx _test3.docx C:\TestREN>ren _test*.docx works*.docx C:\TestREN>dir Volume in drive C has no label. Volume Serial Number is 2176-638D Directory of C:\TestREN 05/20/2008 06:50 AM <DIR> . 05/20/2008 06:50 AM <DIR> .. 05/18/2008 07:52 AM 9,863 works1.docx 05/18/2008 07:52 AM 9,888 works2.docx 05/18/2008 07:52 AM 9,894 works3.docx 3 File(s) 29,645 bytes 2 Dir(s) 77,142,429,696 bytes free SignatureBest of Luck, Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/ Windows help - www.rickrogers.org My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com > Ok, had it tried in XPGold/XPSP1/XPSP2/Server2003/Server2008 and they all > exhibit the same behavior. Didn't have a Win2K system available. I suspect [quoted text clipped - 92 lines] >>>> This isn't how I recall REN working in previous versions of Windows. >>>> Anyone know if the REN command has changed or been broken? |
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