Page 1 of 1

batch rename

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 5:16 am
by WS76
I am new to Vista Home Premium x64. I tried to batch rename to the date taken using the the wizard. Although the process completed without error, the files do not seem have been renamed. In fact, it appears that the files have retained their original name so I am showing two files named Creek and Tree in the same folder. Very strange. Maybe I just don't understand Vista, but the properties of both Creek files are identical and they are in the same folder. Any suggestions?

Re: batch rename

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:25 pm
by Cosmin
Hello,

To embed the date in your pictures' name, go to Step 2 > Filenames. Remove the "[Filename]" keyword and replace it with this keyword sequence "[Date] [Time] [Counter]". This will add the original date, time and a counter to your pictures' name.

Regards,
Cosmin Unguru

Re: batch rename

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 4:14 am
by WS76
I have done exactly as you have described. However the displayed name for each picture is not the filename. I tried to rename the file named Creek and in Windows explorer I now see two files named Creek. If I double click on one the filename is "Creek"and the other is "2009-05-22 23-29Creek".

Why does the Windows Explorer not display the full filename of the file that has been renamed by your BatchPhoto program?

I wish I could send you a screen shot of what my screen looks like to help, but when I go from the Start menu to Pictures, and then I click into the "Sample Pictures" shortcut, I get a screen that shows two files both named "Creek". If I double click on one, the filename is "Creek" and if I double click on the other the filename is "2009-05-22 23-29Creek", which is different that the name displayed in the file explorer ("Creek"). I know it is not possible to have two filenames in one folder that have the same name, so apparently the name displayed in the Windows Explorer for the Sample Pictures folder is not the real filename and was not updated by the BatchPhoto program. This is a fatal flaw and I will not purchase the program.

Re: batch rename

Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 7:42 am
by Cosmin
So your "Creek" file was renamed as "2009-05-22 23-29Creek" by BatchPhoto. The last part of the name is the original filename becouse you haven't removed the "[Filename]" keyword.

Maybe the long filename is truncated by Vista and you only see the last part of it "...Creek". This doesn't mean that BatchPhoto has not renamed the files properly. You can test that by loading both files into BatchPhoto (Step 1) add see their full names and paths.

Regards,
Cosmin Unguru

Re: batch rename

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 3:26 am
by WS76
Good suggestion - actually the "filename" is not truncated. Instead it appears that Vista treats picture folders in a special way. The "Name" displayed in the standard Windows Explorer view is not the "filename" it is the "Name" . I discovered this by right clicking on the column headings which opened a drop down menu where I selected "more..."

Behold - a long list of displayable fields is displayed with a check box where you can choose what fields you want to display. By default the "Name" field is checked but the "filename" field is not checked. I simply checked the box next to "filename" and another column appeared. After refreshing the view, Creek is in the "Name" field and 2009-05-22 23-29Creek is in the "Filename" field.

I'm not sure why Vista maintains both a Name and a Filename for each file. It sure seems confusing to me. Are the two fields related in any way? Hopefully it makes more sense to you! What happens when the Name and the Filename are not the same? Maybe I should read a book on Vista.

Thanks for helping me figure this out, I'm just not sure what it means.