Rename folders, subfolders, and files

Question

I am new to coding / programming and trying to create a simple robocopy routine that automates the duplication of a template project folder from one location to the main project drive, then renames the "00-000" portion of the folder (which is always at the beginning of the name) and contained subfolders and files based on a user specified variable. Here is what my robocopy routine looks like.

echo off
robocopy "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ACAD_Config\00-000-NewProject" "T:\Projects" /xd Dfsrprivate /s /e /W:0 /xd DfsrPrivate /r:0 /np

The rename portion is where I get lost. Once the 00-000-NewProject folder has been created on the T:\ drive, it should be time to rename the folder and contained sub-folders and files.

For example,

1. Routine prompts to set variableA "Enter project number:"
2. User enters variableA definition, "EP-001"
3. Routine verifies changes that are about to be made "The Project Number for all folders and files will be renamed to: 'EP-001' is this correct Y/N ?"" (y = confirm changes and on to step 4. n = reenter project number)
4. This routine replaces any instance of (00-000) contained within the 00-000-NewProject folder with VariableA

Is my idea possible with windows CMD? I would like to avoid installing any 3rd party applications as updates and maintenance can get hairy in a 100 person firm. Any help would be greatly appreciated but further explanation of any suggested code would be most useful in teaching myself how to program. Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

I believe this is what you are trying to do, but as @Guildencrantz mentions, you may need to clarify further about your project structure, files, did you mean file names only, directories, etc.

Example batch file

To use, rename d:\test to your t: directory, remove the echo statements so commands execute, etc.

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set variableA=EP-001
set newfolder=%variableA%-NewProject
echo robocopy "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ACAD_Config\00-000-NewProject" "D:\test\Projects\%newfolder%" /xd Dfsrprivate 

::: rename all files under T:\Projects\%newfolder% that start with 00-000 prefix with the variableA prefix

for /r D:\test\Projects\%newfolder%\ %%f in (*) do (
::: @echo Found: %%f 
set newname=%%f
call set newname=!newname:00-000=%variableA%!
@echo ren %%f !newname!
)
endlocal

Sample Output:

D:\test>rename1.cmd
robocopy "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ACAD_Config\00-000-NewProject" "D:\test\Projects\EP-001-NewProject" /xd Dfsrprivate
ren D:\test\Projects\EP-001-NewProject\00-000-one.txt D:\test\Projects\EP-001-NewProject\EP-001-one.txt
ren D:\test\Projects\EP-001-NewProject\00-000-two.txt D:\test\Projects\EP-001-NewProject\EP-001-two.txt

Answer 2

I see that this is old. It may not matter now, but it was interesting to work out. The difficult spot was renaming the directories from the furthest leaf back to the root.

$project_base = 'C:/src/t/bn'
$template_dir = "$($project_base)/00-000-NewProject"

$project_name_approved = $false
do {
    $pn = Read-Host 'Please enter the new project name'
    $new_project_dir = "$($project_base)/$($pn)-NewProject"

    if (Test-Path -Path $new_project_dir) {
        Write-Host "Project $($pn) already exists. Please choose another project name."
    } else {
        $ap = Read-Host "Rename new project to $($pn)? (Y/N)"
        if ($ap -match '^y') { $project_name_approved = $true }
    }
} until ($project_name_approved)

# Create the new project directory and copy template files
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $new_project_dir | Out-Null
Copy-Item  -Path "$($template_dir)\*" -Destination $new_project_dir -Recurse -Exclude DfsrPrivate

# Rename directories first, from the longest leaf in the tree back to the shortest
$dir_names = Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Directory -Path $new_project_dir |
    Sort-Object -Property Length -Descending |
    ForEach-Object {
        $fn = Split-Path $_ -Leaf
        if ($fn -match '^00-000') {
            Rename-Item -Path $_.FullName -NewName "$($fn -replace '^00-000', $pn)"
        }
    }

Get-ChildItem -Path $new_project_dir -File -Recurse |
    ForEach-Object {
        Rename-Item -Path $_.FullName -NewName $($_.Name -replace '00-000', $pn)
    }