I recommend keeping the File List icon in the Dock for this purpose (which, of course, defeats the purpose of having a Dock-icon-free utility). If this happens, you need to either use Exposé to find the window, or “launch” File List again (by, for example, double-clicking on its icon in the Finder) to bring the window forward. This is confusing, and it also means that it’s difficult to switch to File List if its window gets hidden behind windows for other programs. My biggest complaint about File List is that it doesn’t appear in the Dock or menu bar, nor does it appear in the OS X’s Command+Tab application switcher while running, it’s simply a floating window, but one that can be obscured by other windows. (If File List is open at the time, the droplet will instead populate the file list with the items, configure the desired settings, and then wait for you to click on the Start button, giving you a chance to preview the action first.) You drag your files, or a folder of files, onto the droplet, and the action will be completed. If you plan on performing the same renaming action on other files in the future, File List lets you save your settings as a Droplet, which is simply a small, drag-and-drop application. The renaming procedure is fairly quick, although the more files you’re renaming, the longer the process takes. Once you’ve chosen and configured your renaming options, and checked the name previews to make sure everything is set up correctly, simply click on the Start button (which looks like a Play button) at the bottom of the window. Generate playlist This option, which isn’t really related to renaming, lets you create a playlist file that can be imported, along with the associated media files, into iTunes or onto many non-iPod media players.This language is described in File List’s help files in addition, several examples are provided to give you an idea of how the language is constructed. Advanced The developer provides a special Name Conversion Description Language (NCDL) you can use to combine any of the above options, as well as to perform more-advanced actions.For example, if you’ve got files in the format IMG_2181.JPG, you could have File List remove the first four characters and then add “Macworld Expo” before the file extension, resulting in names in the format 2181 Macworld Expo.JPG. You can also choose to add new characters to those item names, again starting from any position. Remove/insert Characters One of my favorite features, this option can remove any number of characters from each item’s name, starting from any position in the name.If you choose, File List can retain an existing file extension after the suffix for example, to change Birthday.jpg to Birthday Party.jpg. Add prefix/suffice Like the option in Number Sequentially, lets you add a prefix or suffix to item names.Set extension Adds a file extension or changes the current extension you can opt to apply the change only if a file has an existing extension.Change case Lets you modify the case of each file’s name, extension, or both, changing to all uppercase, all lowercase, or capitalized words.You can also add a prefix or suffix of your choosing. You can choose to retain the original name and/or extension, or retain the characters common to all files for example, if all your file names include IMG_, you can keep that text and append your sequential number. Number sequentially Lets you number files starting with the number you specify and in increments you specify.Regular expressions, you can use them in the Find query. Find and replace Lets you replace particular text with other text.Path Finder icon above the list to use the current selection in the Finder or Path Finder, respectively, as the file list.) Pop-up menus above the file list let you sort the list by any of a number of criteria. (Alternatively, you can click on the Finder icon or You populate this list by dragging files from the Finder. On the left is the list of files you want to process. The File List window is clean and easy to understand. (Note that File List has been around for a few years, and isn’t yet Intel-native however, it works perfectly on Intel Macs, and the developer is currently working on an Intel-native version.) Although File List doesn’t have as many features as A Better Finder Rename, it offers a subset of options that will more than suffice for many users, and presents them in a simple, easy-to-use interface. One of the best is ’s $20Ī Better Finder Rename, but if you’re not willing to dish out some dollars for such functionality, I recently re-discovered File List 1.2 ( free) from Many Tricks-the developer behind Mac Gems But for those who often find themselves wrangling with file names, third-party developers offer better solutions.
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