[The Elder]

I have a series of a hundred or so files named 1ralph01.txt, 1ralph02.txt, etc.
I thought I could rename all of the files in one shot by executing (from the DOS prompt)
REN 1ralph??.txt ralph??.txt
That doesn't work. It renames the first file in the series, and then quits with an error message saying there is already another file by that name. To add to my frustration, even that first file doesn't come out the way I want it. It comes out ralphho1.txt.
It has been a VERY long time since I used DOS, but I have pleasant memories of how easy it was to write little batch programs for simple jobs like that. Is there an easy way to write and execute a batch file to do that task? Or is there a simple way to do tasks like that in Windows ME?

[MacFromOK]

Renaming multiple files in DOS is not really
practical unless you have a DOS batch tool that
will do some counting for you. The "shift"
parameter is pretty limited. If you have to
build a batch file with all the names in it,
you might as well rename them at the command
line (which can be done fairly quick with
DOSKEY loaded).

There's a program for Windows9x called VDS that
started out as a "batch file for Windows"
program, but has evolved into a really capable
language. It's shareware, but there is a FREE
16 bit version that will do lots more than batch
files ever could. Check it out here:

http://www.dialogscript.com/uk/qtour.html

I could give you some code to do what you want
(with a couple of editboxes for filename entries,
so it wouldn't just be a one-time use prog) if
you're interested in VDS.

[The Elder]

Thanks for your reply. I went to the web site you mentioned, but even that simple VDS progam seems to be several levels over my head. I think I can do what I want to the hard way, one file at a time, a lot faster than I could begin to understand the program, much less use it. But I thank you for the education and your kind offer.

[MacFromOK]

You are welcome.

[LarryCore]

I'm a little confused. Your command should work.

1ralph01.txt should be renamed to ralph01.txt without an error message. You are saying it does not get renamed to that?

Before doing anything, copy 10 or so of the files to another folder, and use that folder to play with. That way you won't lose any files.

How about REN 1ralph*.txt ralph*.txt

That should work too.

[MacFromOK]

Well, I just learned something (again).

REN doesn't work on my system, but RENAME
does work. What can I say (10 years in DOS
and that one escaped me).

OOPS... They both work. What an idiot.

I never renamed a bunch of files except
in Windows (unless I enumerated them,
that's why I mentioned counting in the
previous post). And in Windows, I wrote
a program to do what could have been
done with one DOS command...
What an idiot.

[Edited by MacFromOK on 04-11-2001 at 02:03 AM]

[davidgsmith]

Hello THe Elder,

Try This method, and see if it works for you.

Good Luck,
Dave