Recursively Replace symbol with PowerShell - powershell

Question

I have a folder structure that I'd like to go through and any time the folder name contains "&", I'd like to replace this with the word "and". I assume this is possible with powershell, but I am extreme noobie when it comes to PowerShell.
Thanks!
Here is my attempt:
get-childitem -recurse ./ *&* | where-object { $_.Name -like "*&*" } | % {rename-item $_ -newname $_.Name.Replace("&","and") -whatif}
will this only change the folder names?
Also tried this one but no luck either (This one gives the error: Cannot rename because the target specified represents a path or device name:
gci -recurse | where-object { $_.Name -like "*&*" } | ?{ $_.PSIsContainer } | % {rename-item $_FullName $_FullName.Replace("&","and")}
EDIT: POWERSHELL on Windows Server 2008 R2

Answer 1

I suspect one reason the original code fails is because Rename-Item is being given a NewName parameter which includes the entire path, rather than just the name. Secondary problem here is that the code will try to rename from the top down, which may invalidate other objects in the pipeline. I've tried to get around this by processing the longest paths first (hence descending sort on PSPath.length). It worked on my test folders.
get-childitem ./ -Recurse -Filter "*&*" |
? { $_.PSIsContainer } |
sort { ($_.PSPath).length } -Descending |
% {
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName ($_.Name -replace "&","and")
}

Answer 2

The reason for your error is that you replace the & character in the whole path, even parent folders.
Say for example that you want to rename the folder c:\me & my\something & another your $_.FullName.Replace("&", "and") would change that to c:\me and my\something and another. However, since we in this little test scenario renamed the subfolder before the parent folder we're actually trying to move the folder from being a child of c:\my & my to being a child of c:\me and my (and on top of that we want to move it to a folder which doesn't exist.
From the help section on Rename-Item (which I got by executing Get-Help Rename-Item -Parameter NewName):
Specifies the new name of the item. Enter only a name, not a path and name. If you enter a path that is different
from the path that is specified in the Path parameter, Rename-Item generates an error. To rename and move an item,
use the Move-Item cmdlet.
So we only want to include the name of the folder in the NewName parameter.
Finally, as #andyb pointed out, we also need to rename the items in the order of subfolder, then parent folder, to ensure that the parent path is still intact. #andyb's suggested solution of sorting the folders by the length of the FullName path should work well for this.
Thus the following should work very well.
Get-ChildItem .\ -Recurse -Filter "*&*" |
Where { $_.PSIsContainer } |
Sort { $_.FullName.Length } -Descending |
Foreach {
$newName = $_.Name.Replace("&", "and")
Rename-Item $_.FullName $newName
}
Edit: Updated to include sorting in folder path length descending order, due to a misstake which #andyb pointed out.

Answer 3

You are on the right path. Created a couple of test folders and files under 'C:\temp\aaa' folder to show how it works
PS C:\> gci C:\Temp\aaa -recurse | where {$_.name -match '&'} | Rename-Item -newname {$_.name -replace '&','and'} -whatif
What if: Performing the operation "Rename Directory" on target "Item: C:\Temp\aaa\ad & il Destination: C:\Temp\aaa\ad and il".
What if: Performing the operation "Rename Directory" on target "Item: C:\Temp\aaa\ad & il\hin\di&st&t Destination: C:\Temp\aaa\ad & il\hin\diandstandt".
What if: Performing the operation "Rename File" on target "Item: C:\Temp\aaa\ad & il\hin\adilll&hindist &an.txt Destination: C:\Temp\aaa\ad & il\hin\adilllandhi ndist andan.txt".

Answer 4

Steps:
1. match items
reverse items so that we can rename them from child to parent
rename them
Code:
$matchedItems = ls D:\test -Recurse | where { $_.Name -like '*&*' }
[array]::Reverse( $matchedItems )
$matchedItems | foreach {
$newName = ""
if($_.PSIsContainer){
$newName = Join-Path $_.Parent.FullName ($_.BaseName -replace '&' , 'and')
}
else {
$newName = Join-Path $_.Directory.FullName ($_.BaseName -replace '&' , 'and')
}
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName $newName
}
Output:
PS C:\> ls D:\test -Recurse | select FullName
FullName
--------
D:\test\& New Foder
D:\test\New & folder
D:\test\New folder&
D:\test\test & test.txt
D:\test\& New Foder\New & folder
D:\test\& New Foder\New folder&
D:\test\& New Foder\test & test.txt
D:\test\New folder&\& New Foder
D:\test\New folder&\New & folder
D:\test\New folder&\New folder&
D:\test\New folder&\test & test.txt
D:\test\New folder&\& New Foder\New & folder
D:\test\New folder&\& New Foder\New folder&
D:\test\New folder&\& New Foder\test & test.txt
PS C:\> $matchedItems = ls D:\test -Recurse | where { $_.Name -like '*&*' }
[array]::Reverse( $matchedItems )
$matchedItems | foreach {
$newName = ""
if($_.PSIsContainer){
$newName = Join-Path $_.Parent.FullName ($_.BaseName -replace '&' , 'and')
}
else {
$newName = Join-Path $_.Directory.FullName ($_.BaseName -replace '&' , 'and')
}
$_ | Rename-Item -NewName $newName
}
PS C:\> ls D:\test -Recurse | select FullName
FullName
--------
D:\test\and New Foder
D:\test\New and folder
D:\test\New folderand
D:\test\test and test
D:\test\and New Foder\New and folder
D:\test\and New Foder\New folderand
D:\test\and New Foder\test and test
D:\test\New folderand\and New Foder
D:\test\New folderand\New and folder
D:\test\New folderand\New folderand
D:\test\New folderand\test and test
D:\test\New folderand\and New Foder\New and folder
D:\test\New folderand\and New Foder\New folderand
D:\test\New folderand\and New Foder\test and test