Example rename patterned files in subfolders

Example-script to rename multiple files in subfolders that have a pattern, include the top subfolder in the new pattern.

Filename location and format:

• "./${year}/${title} by ${author}.${ext}"
• "./1992/Greatest Story by A.Uthor.txt"

New name and location:

• "./${author} - Stories [${year}] - ${title}.${ext}"
• "./A.Uthor - Stories [1992] - Greatest Story.txt"

#go to the folder
cd "/some/folder/on/a/disk"

echo "#!/bin/bash" > ./aaa_copy.sh

# index files .txt and .rtf in subfolders
unset files i
while IFS= read -r -u3 -d $'\0' file; do
    files[i++]="$file"
done 3< <( find "./" -type f \( -iname "*.txt" -o -iname "*.rtf" \) -print0  )
echo "${#files[@]} files found"

# loop over found files
i=0
while [ $i -lt ${#files[@]} ] ; do
	file="${files[$i]}"
	echo $file

	#get path, name, ext
	path=$(dirname "${file}")
 	nameext="${file##*/}"
	name="${nameext%.*}"
	ext="${nameext##*.}"

	#get year,title,author
	year=$( echo $path | rev | cut --delimiter=/ -f1 | rev )
	title=$( echo $name | sed 's/ [Bb]y .*//' )
	author=$( echo $name | sed 's/.* [Bb]y //' )
	
	#add new name to rename script
	echo "cp \"${file}\" \"./${author} - Stories [${year}] - ${title}.${ext}\"" >> ./aaa_copy.sh

	i=$(( $i + 1 ))
done

Note: the resulting script 'aaa_copy.sh' can not be executed as it is not executable. You should check a few lines first and then copy these to a terminal to test the results. Then the whole contents of the script can be done the same way.

See also

• Set modification date and time from filename
• Rename 'JPG' to 'jpg'
• Modify jpeg EXIF picture data
• Strip jpeg EXIF metadata