Hi everybody and sorry for this lame question , but I´m truly struggling here.
I can put files to be renamed into variable as well as content of the text file, like this:
$filestochange = Get-ChildItem -Path "c:\test"
$FileNames = Get-Content "c:\src.txt"
But how to pass it to Rename-Item command so every line in txt file was used to rename another file in a row?
I tried : Rename-Item -Path $filestochange -NewName $FileNames
Error comes up:
Rename-Item : Cannot convert 'System.Object[]' to the type 'System.String' required by parameter 'Path'. Specified method is not supported.
I was trying ForEach also, but I dont know how to put another variables for the rename-item command it that case as well.
I believe it is very simple, once somebody knows how to use all those $_. {}""
Please, help me go further. ¨Many thanks!
Use a variable to keep track of how many file names you've already used:
$filestochange = Get-ChildItem -Path "c:\test"
$FileNames = Get-Content "c:\src.txt"
# use this variable to keep track of the next file name to use
$counter = 0
foreach($file in $filestochange){
# Remember to check if we have any file names left to use
if($counter -lt $FileNames.Length){
# Rename the next file to the next name in `$FileNames`, then increment counter
$file |Rename-Item -NewName $FileNames[$counter++]
}
else {
Write-Warning "We ran out of file names!"
break
}
}
Related
I’m attempting to rename a bunch of files that are located in multiple folders. The filenames are not unique because they live in multiple directories. Hence, I'd like to fetch all specific files based on their path and then use the Rename-Item cmdlet to make them unique.
I'm using the Import-Csv cmdlet because I have the Paths and New File Names in a text file (headers are oldPath and NewFileName respectively).
I've got this so far:
$documentList = #(Import-Csv -Path 'C:\Users\Desktop\testFolder\fileWithPathAndNewFileName.txt')
$Paths = (ForEach-Object {
(Gci -Path $documentList.oldPath)
})
$Paths | ForEach-Object {Rename-Item -Path $_.FullName -NewName "$($documentlist.newFileName)"}
Unfortunately, this isn't really working, but feels like it's almost there. I think where I'm screwing up is the -NewName parameter. I'm just not sure how to populate the NewFileName object from my text file correctly. Any help would be much appreciated. I apologize in advance if this seems somewhat trivial, I unfortunately haven't been consistent with my Powershell.
Your code is a little confused. ;-) ... if you have CSV file you should name it *.csv.
If I got you right this should be enough actually:
$documentList = Import-Csv -Path 'C:\Users\Desktop\testFolder\fileWithPathAndNewFileName.txt'
foreach ($document in $documentList) {
Rename-Item -Path $document.oldPath -NewName $document.NewFileName
}
You iterate over each row in your CSV file and use the value in the cells as input for the Rename-Item cmdlet. You need to have the complete path including filename to the file in the column "oldPath" and the NewName in the column "NewName"
I want to check .jpg file in the 2nd folder. 2nd folder has some subfolder. if .jpg exist in the subfolder of 2nd folder, I will copy a file from 1st folder to subfolder of 2nd folder based on the base name. I can do this part refer to this great answer How to copy file based on matching file name using PowerShell?
https://stackoverflow.com/a/58182359/11066255
But I want to do this process with infinity loop. Once I use infinity loop, I found that I have a lot of duplicate file. How do I make limitation, if I already copy the file, I will not copy again in the next loop.
Anyone can help me please. Thank you.
for(;;)
{
$Job_Path = "D:\Initial"
$JobError = "D:\Process"
Get-ChildItem -Path "$OpJob_Path\*\*.jpg" | ForEach-Object {
$basename = $_.BaseName.Substring(15)
$job = "$Job_Path\${basename}.png"
if (Test-Path $job) {
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMddhhmmss'
$dst = Join-Path $_.DirectoryName "${timestamp}_${basename}.gif"
$Get = (Get-ChildItem -Name "$OpJob_Path\*\*$basename.jpg*" | Measure-Object).Count
Copy-Item $job $dst -Force
}
}
}
File management 101 is that, Windows will not allow duplicate file names in the same location. You can only have duplicate files, if the name of the file is unique, but the content is the same. Just check for the filename, but they must be the same filename, and do stuff if it is not a match else do nothing.
Also, personally, I'd suggest using a PowerShell FileSystemWatcher instead of a infinite loop. Just saying...
This line …
$timestamp = Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMddhhmmss'
… will always generate a unique filename by design, the content inside it is meaningless, unless you are using file hashing for the compare as part of this.
Either remove / change that line to something else, or use file hash (they ensure uniqueness regardless of name used) ...
Get-FileHash -Path 'D:\Temp\input.txt'
Algorithm Hash Path
--------- ---- ----
SHA256 1C5B508DED35A28B9CCD815D47ECF500ECF8DDC2EDD028FE72AB5505C0EC748B D:\Temp\input.txt
... for compare and prior to the copy if another if/then.
something like...
If ($job.Hash -ne $dst.Hash)
{Copy-Item $job.Path $dst.Path}
Else
{
#Do nothing
}
There are of course other ways to do this as well, this is just one idea.
I am new to PowerShell and new to IT. I've been asked by my boss to write a PowerShell script that will identify filenames that have no file extension and then change them to .PDF files. After doing some research online I've found a script that had a similar purpose and tried to tailor it to my needs:
$proj_files = Get-ChildItem | Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq "."}
ForEach ($file in $proj_files) {
$filenew = $file.Name + ".pdf"
Rename-Item $file $filenew
}
My first question is does the logic in this script make sense? Is "Extension -eq "." the correct syntax to specify a filename with no extension? My other thought was to use Extension -eq "null" or something similar. If I do need to use a null value, what would that look like? My other question is how would I specify a given directory for this script to search through, or would I even need to? My thought here would be to specify the path under Get-ChildItem, like so: $proj_files = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\mthomas\Documents | Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq ".'} Does that seem correct? I am hesitant to test this out before getting a second opinion because I don't want to change every file extension on my computer or something stupid like that. Anyhow, thanks everyone for the help.
You can do something like the following to find files in a directory without an extension, and rename them to have a PDF extension:
$directory = "C:\Path\To\Directory"
Get-ChildItem -File $directory | Where-Object { -Not $_.Extension } | Foreach-Object {
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName "$($_.Name).pdf"
}
Let's break this down
$directory = "C:\Path\To\Directory"
This is where we set the directory we want to locate files without extensions in. It doesn't have to be set as a static variable but since you are just getting your feet wet with Powershell this keeps it simple.
Get-ChildItem -File $directory
Get-ChildItem is the cmdlet which is used to list directory contents (also aliased to gci, ls, and dir). -File tells it to only list files, and $directory references the directory we want to search from, which we set above. Note that Get-ChildItem might behave differently depending on the provider (for example, you can also use Get-ChildItem on a registry key), but if you are working with a filesystem path you do not need to worry about additional providers for this case.
|
Passes the previous output down the pipeline. This is a common operator in Powershell, but basically you can string commands together using it. You can read more about the pipeline at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/getting-started/fundamental/understanding-the-windows-powershell-pipeline?view=powershell-6
Where-Object { -Not $_.Extension }
Where-Object evaluates a condition on one or more items, and filters out items that do not meet the condition. Since Get-ChildItem can return one or more files, we use the -Not operator in the ScriptBlock (denoted by {} and make sure that there is no extension on the file. $_, or $PSItem, is a special variable used by the pipeline, in this case $_ equals each item returned by Get-ChildItem. The Extension property exists on files returned by Get-ChildItem, and will be blank, or evaluated as $False. So filtering on -Not $_.Extension is the same as saying to only match objects that are missing a file extension. Where-Object can be read about in more detail here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/where-object?view=powershell-6
Foreach-Object { SCRIPTBLOCK }
Similar to Where-Object, but runs code for each object in the pipeline rather than evaluating and filtering out objects which don't match a condition. In this case, we pipe the each file without an extension to Rename-Item, which I'll break down further below. More information on Foreach-Object can be read about here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.core/foreach-object?view=powershell-6
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName "$($_.Name).pdf"
Rename the current file in the Foreach-Object block to the new name with .pdf appended. The "$( ... )" is called a sub-expression, which is a string interpolation technique that lets you run a command within a string, and make its output part of the string. You could achieve the same effect by doing $_ | Rename-Item -NewName ( $_.Name + ".pdf" ) which just adds a .pdf to the end of the current name.
Summary
The pipeline is a very powerful tool in Powershell, and is key to writing efficient and less bloated scripts. It might seem complex at first, but the more you use it the less daunting it will seem. I highly suggest reading the additional documentation I linked to above as it should help fill in any gaps I may have missed in my explanations above.
To simplify the breakdown above, the command does this, in this order: Gets all files in the specified directory, selects only the files that do not have an extension, then renames each file found without an extension to have a .pdf at the end.
The logic in the script - the overall shape - makes understandable sense, but is not right for it to work as you intend.
Testing on my computer here:
new-item -ItemType File -Name 'test'
get-item test | format-list *
get-item test | foreach { $_.extension; $_.Extension.length; $_.extension.GetType().name }
a file with no extension shows up with an empty string (blank content, length 0, type String, so your where-object { $_.Extension -eq "." } needs to be looking for "" instead of ".".
But:
Get-ChildItem | Where-Object { $_.Extension -eq '' }
shows me some folders as well, because they also have no extension in their name, so you might want Get-ChildItem -File to restrict it to just files.
how would I specify a given directory for this script to search through, or would I even need to?
It would run in the current directory, whichever shows up in your prompt PS C:\wherever> so if you need it to run somewhere else, yes you'd need to change to that folder or specify in get-childitem -LiteralPath 'c:\path\to\wherever'. You haven't mentioned subfolders, if you need those included, get-childitem -Recurse switch as well.
Speaking of subfolders, your $filenew = $file.Name + ".pdf" only makes sense in the current directory, I think it would work better if you used the full filename including path, so they definitely get renamed in the same place they were found $filenew = $file.FullName + ".pdf"
Is "Extension -eq "." the correct syntax to specify a filename with no extension?
Being careful here, what you wrote in your question was correct syntax but incorrect string content. What you've written here with quotes on the left of Extension is incorrect syntax.
My other thought was to use Extension -eq "null" or something similar. If I do need to use a null value, what would that look like?
And being careful here, "null" is not a null value, it's a string containing the four letter word 'null'.
You don't need to use a null value here, normally if you do it looks like $null, but in this case you could use where-object { [string]::IsNullOrEmpty($_.Extension) } but there's no benefit to it, I think.
And, as a stylistic choice, both "" and '' are strings, but "" can contain variables and sub-expressions, so if you have plain text it's a neat habit to use '' for it because it makes it clear to the reader that you intend there to be nothing special happening in this string.
Then your code, with parameter names given, looks more like:
$proj_files = Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath 'C:\Users\mthomas\Documents' |
Where-Object {$_.Extension -eq '.'}
foreach ($file in $proj_files)
{
$filenew = $file.FullName + '.pdf'
Rename-Item -LiteralPath $file.FullName -NewName $filenew
}
If you want to see what it will do, use -WhatIf on the end of Rename-Item:
Rename-Item -LiteralPath $file.FullName -NewName $filenew -WhatIf
Then it won't make the changes, just tell you what it would do.
I am hesitant to test this out before getting a second opinion because I don't want to change every file extension on my computer or something stupid like that
Sensible. But internet people are going to tell you to test their code before running it, because ultimately it's your responsibility to safeguard your files, rather than trust random code from the internet, so having test folders, having a spare machine, having a good backup, playing with PowerShell in pieces until you are happy with what they do, they're all good habits to get into as well.
I would like to create a Powershell script that adds text to *.jsp *.sh *.cmd files. I would also like it to check if the text already exist in that file and if it does then it skips the file. So far I have found Select-String which will find the text in the file. How do I then use this information to add text to top of the files that do not have the text in them? I also found Add-Content which seems to add the content I want but I would like to do it at the beginning and have some logic to not just keep re-adding it every time I run the ps1.
Select-String -Pattern "TextThatIsInMyFile" -Path c:\Stuff\batch\*.txt
Add-Content -Path "c:\Stuff\batch\*.txt" -Value "`r`nThis is the last line"
Very similar to what #MikeWise has, but a little better optimized. I have it pulling the data and making the provider filter the files returned (much better than filtering afterwards). Then I pass it to a Where statement using Select-String's -quiet parameter to provide boolean $true/$false to the Where. That way only file that you want to look at are even looked at, and only those missing the text you need are altered.
Get-ChildItem "C:\Stuff\Batch\*" -Include *.jsp,*.sh,*.cmd -File |
Where{!(Select-String -SimpleMatch "TextThatIsInMyFile" -Path $_.fullname -Quiet)} |
ForEach{
$Path = $_.FullName
"TextThatIsInMyFile",(Get-Content $Path)|Set-Content $Path
}
Edit: As you discovered the \* does not work with -Recursive. Use the following if you need to recurse:
Get-ChildItem "C:\Stuff\Batch" -Include *.jsp,*.sh,*.cmd -File -Recurse
Refering to the manual: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh849903.aspx
Specifically:
Outputs
The output type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet emits.
• Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.MatchInfo or System.Boolean
By default, the output is a set of MatchInfo objects, one for each match found.
If you use the Quiet parameter, the output is a Boolean value indicating whether the pattern was found.
I also think that you also need to do this per file. So (presumbably):
$files = Get-ChildItem "C:\Stuff\batch" -Filter *.txt
for ($i=0; $i -lt $files.Count; $i++)
{
$filename = $files[$i].FullName
$b = Select-String -Quiet -Pattern "TextThatIsInMyFile" -Path $fileName
if (-not $b)
{
Add-Content -Path $fileName -Value "`r`nTextThatIsInMyFile"
}
}
I tested this and I think it does what you want, i.e. adds the text to the end of files that do not have it, and not doing it more than once.
My source files all reside in one folder whose path is contained in a variable named $template.
I need to specify the exact filename as each file goes to a different destination.
My goal is to merely concatenate the filename to the variable.
Example:
$template = "D:\source\templatefiles\"
Filename1 is: "graphic-183.jpg"
I have tried:
Join-Path $template graphic-183.jpg
Issuing this at the cli appears to do what I want.
But now, how do I reference this concatenated file path short of creating a new variable for each file? It isn't as simple as for-nexting my way through a list as depending on the filename that determines where the file goes.
I am toying with case else, elseIf, but surely it isn't this hard.
The bottom line is, I just want to prefix the folder path to each filename and hard code the destination as it will always be the same each time the script is run.
edit
I just edited this as I forgot to mention how I am trying to use this.
In my script I intend to have lines like:
Copy-Item -Path $template filename.ext -Destination $destfolder
It's the highlighted part above that I am trying to join $template to the filename.
Thanks for any advice.
-= Bruce D. Meyer
maybe this is what you want?
you can call cmdlets in place, using parentheses, like so:
Copy-Item -Path (Join-Path $template filename.ext) -Destination $destfolder
this causes PowerShell to go from "argument mode" to "expression mode" - i.e., it returns the output of the Join-Path cmdlet as an expression.
and yes, David's and Ansgar's suggestions are also helpful - try this to get full paths only:
(get-childitem $template) | select fullname
You could build the path like this:
$template = "D:\source\templatefiles\"
Copy-Item -Path "${template}filename.ext" ...
However, I think David's suggestion might be a better solution for your problem. You could map filenames to destination folders with a hash table and do something like this:
$locations = #{
"foo" = "C:\some",
"bar" = "C:\other",
...
}
Get-ChildItem $template | % { Copy-Item $_ $location[$_.Name] }