iView and file renaming using other software

[billseymour]

Hello again-
I am finally testing iView Pro, and find it very strong. My Q relates to how to use iView along with a more powerful batch renamer (Breezebrowser and Imagingester have been mentioned here) to perform more complex renaming, AFTER files have originally been named and included in an iView catalog.

I experimented with my test image files (already part of an iView test catalog), and renamed two files directly in Vista. In iView, the thumbnails still appear with original names, but (as I would expect), iView indicates that it cannot find the original media (since I renamed these 2 files).

I do not see the way I am to instruct iView to match the thumbs (old names) with media (renamed), and get everything synched up. Is there a 'batch' way to do this, or does one have to straighten things up one file at a time (not desirable, if many files involved).

Thanks for any info.

[johnbeardy]

Bill

The answer is No. On Windows, once you have images catalogued in iView, you should only rename files within iView - otherwise the catalogue will lose track of them. Alternatively rename them before they go into iIView.

John

[billseymour]

John-
OK, thanks- I figured this might be the answer.

My interest was really based on what appears to be iView's limited string replacement capabilities in the batch renaming area (this is my impression, I've not fully checked batch rename out). In particular, it seemed to me that if I wanted to strip out part of a string, say:
original: 070523_bill_001 (002, etc)
desired: 070523_001 (002, etc)
that iView requires a renumbering in sequential order if you want to have the 001.. included. So, if one has a batch of files to change which have been cherry-picked (file # 001, 002, 005, 012, etc), this seems to present a problem for iView, since it appears you have to either allow a direct 001, 002, 003 sequencing, or accept no numbering at all.

Anyway, this is hardly a deal breaker, really more a matter of figuring out features as I go.
Thanks, Bill

[johnbeardy]

Bill

From what I remember of BreezeBrowser, DLPro would probably have cleverer renaming. But you could always do it in iView in two passes, one of which would only have filename in the top section and the search and replace below. Have you seen that you can save renaming schemes? Another powerful choice is scripting.

John

[billseymour]

John-
Clearly I have to fiddle around and get comfortable with the features- thanks for your suggestions. I may not understand feature yet, but I'll just pose my uncertainty here at the moment:

If I have three cherry-picked files 070523_bill_ (001, 003, 005), and wanted to remove the _bill :

I did 'pass #1' on my test files, with only file name and the search/replace, without numbering, and the result was:

070523_1, 070523_2, 070523_3

iView apparently forced a numbering convention (probably to keep files names unique). This still leaves the issue of trying to do this for a larger group of files- still requires some sort of individual re-numbering.

Anyway, thanks for info, and I will continue experimenting.

Oh- final thought here- would it be workable to:

1. make a copy of the folder with files to be changed
2. use 'other software' on the copy folder to achieve more powerful batch renaming
3. do whatever is appropriate 'delete original folder' from iView database, and then-
4. import the altered folder (with corrected naming) back into iView

Just a thought.
Bill

[billseymour]

Well, with continued fiddling, I may have answered my own Q for last example.

Example 1:
If I have three cherry-picked files 070523_bill_ (001, 003, 005), and wanted to remove the _bill :

In iView Action>batch rename:

In Rename Options, select ONLY 'filename'
In Search/Replace:
  Search for: bill_
  Replace:  <<leave this blank>>

This will result in070523_001, 070523_003, 070523_005, as desired.

I also note: To do the 'search/replace', I think you need a good 'hook' (here, bill_). Without something to 'search' for, there is no way to replace (unless software lets you actually identify string positions, which I gather iView does not let you do).

So I am thinking the thing that iView cannot easily do is to INSERT text consistently at a position, where there is nothing to 'search' for. This would be the problem of
Example 2: take 070523_001, 070523_002, and INSERT bill_ to get back to original 070523_bill_001

(I am also thinking that a little forsight before naming would sure be easier!)
Bill

[Dierk]

That's simple: Search for the underscore and replace it with '_bill_'. It only becomes difficult to not possible if you want to insert something between two variable values - but in that case I'd say you have to rethink your whole naming scheme.

[billseymour]

Thanks, Dierk, you're absolutely right. I realize I was thinking of a file name with two of the '_' in them, so:
starting: 070523_001_original , and wanting to get back to 070523_bill_001_original

In this case, I think that a program would be required that could pinpoint a position in the string (here, position #7: 070523_ , and then insert the 'bill_' .

Having said that, your other point is really the most important: have a good plan before setting forth on the renaming project.

What was that carpenter's rule?
Measure once, cut twice.  Or was that measure twice, cut once....? (*pick one*)
Bill

[Dierk]

Even with your new example I see the renaming as very simple:

1. Select the files to rename
2. Set Search to '3_'
3. Set Replace to '3_bill_'
4. Repeat 1 through 3 for every new day.

The worst case I can think of would be files with nothing in common on either side of the place where you want to insert something. I'd venture a rather rare case, in which you have to rename the files such that they have something in common, say a date. This is easily done. Downside: you have to use rename twice [but MediaPro is very fast with renaming. BTW, there's several scripts helping with renaming, including one to use the EXIF date. So, eventually you can do all you want, have all the info you want in your file name with two or three runs.

[billseymour]

Super- I will take a look at scripts, also. Thanks again.
Bill

[johnbeardy]

Some examples here - a couple deal with renaming.

John

[billseymour]

John- Thanks for references. I'll give them a look, sure they'll be helpful.
Bill