How to rename files using HttpUtility.UrlEncode method in PowerShell? - powershell

Question

I have a bunch of html files that I need to rename with url encoding before I upload them to the server. I've tried:
Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp\ -Recurse -Filter *.html | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name.replace("*.html",[Web.Httputility]::UrlEncode("*.html")) }
But that doesn't apply the encoding, can this be even done somehow?

Answer 1

Here's a basic way to do it, based on this answer:
(Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp\ -Recurse -Filter *.html -File) |
foreach { ren $_.fullname ([uri]::EscapeDataString($_))}
Originally I had written it without the () around the Get-ChildItem, but found it was still reading directory information while the rename had already renamed the first item. Then the rename reencoded the first item a second time, thus making it a bit munged up.
Here's a cleaner version that handles the files first and then folders:
$files = Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp\ -Recurse -Filter *.html -File
$folders = Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp\ -Recurse -Filter *.html -Directory
$files | foreach { ren $_.fullname ([uri]::EscapeDataString($_))}
$folders | foreach { ren $_.fullname ([uri]::EscapeDataString($_))}

Answer 2

Based on your answers i did this to make it work
(Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp\ -Recurse -Filter *.html) |
foreach { ren $_.fullName ([uri]::EscapeDataString($_.Name))} | Out-Null
Get-ChildItem -Path c:\temp\ -Recurse | ?{ $_.PSIsContainer } |
foreach { ren $_.fullName ([uri]::EscapeDataString($_.Name))}
First I had to do only files and then folders, because when top folder gets renamed, then the path to files inside it doesn't exist any more.