Bash: Rename specific files in a folder

#beginners #bash #linux #tutorial

Recently I've built a script to download all my articles from dev.to into markdown files.

I used the timestamp and the name of the article.

This is working, but there is one annoying thing: every post has a date in its file name and its frontmatter.

That leads to:

Increased complexity: Would have to change the date in both places if I would want to change the date.
What would be the source of truth in case of two different dates?

Problem

Desired Outcome

Let's tackle this problem

# loop over every file with `md` extension, assign it to `file`
for file in *.md 
do
  # rename (by variable expansion starting from position 11)
  mv "$file" "${file:11}" 
done

Questions

Do you write bash scripts?
What's your favorite one?

Top comments (6)

Ryan • Oct 22 '19

I have been trying to write a quick bash script for work to simply add an extension to the end of all files in a folder (filename.OGext.NEWext) but have little experience and it hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be.

miku86 • Oct 22 '19

Hey Ryan,

did you manage to achieve your goal?

I would try something like this:

# * wildcard for all files
for file in *
do
  # -v will show you what has been done.
  mv -v "$file" "$file.yourdesiredextension"  
done

Ryan • Oct 22 '19

Seeing your post inspired me to tackle it once again and I had just got it working before your comment! I don't do bash scripting very often but it is something I am trying to commit to doing more often.
Thanks.