den4b Forum

auwebio

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2010-07-07

Posts: 45

Re: A Timestamp problem: take from name and set on file

Thank you both Stefan and SafetyCar! 
(Never in a million years I thought this community would be so supportive of my very small problem)

How many files? With sub-folders? Are there different paths? Or one main path to start with? Your list is in sync with the files? I mean your list is sorted as the files and there are no file left or to much? Can you execute this script-to-come for every single folder, or have the script to detect the folder change too?

It can be from around 50 to numbers in excess of 3000 (it varies a lot). Yes, many different folders and paths (although I can limit this by separating the files in batches with a common starting path, if necessary). The list is always produced immediately prior to the Re-Dating process, so yes, it is "in sync". There can be many files that are NOT on the list that share the same folders with the ones that need Re-Dating, yes.  I apologize, I did not quite understand the last question...

So can you once more explain what you wanna do?

  You made it sound so complicated...
I have a list of files (path+filename) together with corresponding dates to which they need to be changed to (the "modified" date, specifically).
I would like to:
(1) - input both fields (path+filename and date) in some way;
(2) - if possible, get a visual confirmation of the dates to which the files are going to change to;
(3) - quickly inspect all the files at once (even randomly or by sampling if the number is too large);
(4) - commit the changes if there's nothing wrong.

As for (1) , SafetyCar just pointed me to the "Import files from text-list or play-list" of the "Export" menu. The input of the dates also is a breeze in ReNamer. 

As for (2) , SafetyCar's script with some slight modifications actually do the trick; the only problem is that I do loose the old "modified" date even before I can inspect the results, but that doesn't really matter to me, mainly because ReNamer holds the file list in the same order even after the preview;

That way, I can always (3) check what's wrong, correct the input if necessary, and (4) commit the changes the way they should be.

It is working very well for me so far; I've done many date changes today, mainly because the processing of it became much easier, thanks to Denis's powerful and flexible ReNamer and to the help of all of you.

I think you are talking about this:
http://www.den4b.com/wiki/ReNamer:Menus … export_menu

Yes. Precisely! I never in a million years would have found an import function under the export menu - thank you SafetyCar for that wonderful "insider" tip!

So yo want a confirmation? What type? Yes/No dialog is easy to add but in fact...In the first sentence of the quote is the reason because I added those non-valid symbols  , but if you prefer changing them there is no problem for me...Some update on the code check if it's what you wanted.

Yes. A Visual Confirmation with files and new dates side-by-side. I guess the script can't do this trick "inside" because it processes one file at a time (right?). If I have 3000 files on the list to change dates, I wish I do not have to confirm each one... 
About the warning, I see they would be good to alert the regular user about the nature of that renaming process and prevent them from actually changing the names. You are completely right, I had not seen this before (but I'm still very greedy about my mouse clicks  , so I will keep the results possible to rename for one less mouse click...  - yes, I'm a cheap bastard when it comes to mouse clicks... hehehe...  )

SafetyCar

Senior Member

Registered: 2008-04-28

Posts: 446

Website

Re: A Timestamp problem: take from name and set on file

I'm not understanding you very well

I'll explain you some parts of the code, and you can remove the thing you don't want

  ...
  // Ask for start
  * The code here is the first yes/no confirmation *

  // Date confirmation
  * The code here is the confirmation for each  file *

  // Extract date parts
  ...

Or you wanted something different?

---

If this software has helped you, consider getting your pro version. :)

auwebio

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2010-07-07

Posts: 45

Re: A Timestamp problem: take from name and set on file

I'm not understanding you very well...

Oh...    I'm sorry for that... Sometimes I tend to be a little bit too much prolific (I talk too much - more than necessary).

I'll explain you some parts of the code, and you can remove the thing you don't want

No, no, no... I understood the code fine in all of your posts, it was very well written. The first one you posted worked perfectly for me, specially after I did alter this part so that I could see the new dates in the main interface, after the preview:

FileName := FileName + ' - OK -- Date changed succesfully'

So, I preview the results like this:
Name                        New Name
FileSample001.txt   2010-07-11 10.23.14  - OK -- Date changed succesfully
FileSample002.txt   2007-04-13 12.21.07  - OK -- Date changed succesfully
FileSample003.txt   2008-09-01 11.25.01  - OK -- Date changed succesfully

  * The code here is the first yes/no confirmation *
  * The code here is the confirmation for each  file *

I had not tested this yet. As I said, I did not wish to do that many mouse-clicks to confirm each file idividually. I still prefer the first script you gave me. It may not be "ideal", but I do not really mind the changing of the dates before I have a chance to look at the preview. I can always correct any mistakes and change the dates again before leaving the application. In the end, it works very very well for me. You really pointed me in the right direction! 

Or you wanted something different?

No, not really. The first script you gave me was great! Thank you! 

Andrew

Senior Member

Registered: 2008-05-22

Posts: 542

Re: A Timestamp problem: take from name and set on file

The main job is compiling that table. If you can do that, your job's almost done. AtributeMagic might not accept any input methods, but if you have a command line utility that takes the filename and creation/modification/access date/time as parameters (Google gives me plenty), it's relatively easy to create a batch file with each line changing the date/time of a single file. Run the batch file and voila!

Hello, Andrew! Wow... 
I can't believe that thought never even crossed my mind yet... It's so simple! Thank you very much! (I might even use pure DOS functions, without the need for the command line utility - I have to research more on that, though...)
The only problem with that method is that I do not get any sort of warning or confirmation of any kind; if I "mess up" any information in the way I might not even notice afterwards.

Thank you for your help! 

Well the input has to be in the correct format of course, as required by the command-line utility. Depending on the utility, it might be possible to get a preview, but I think it's unlikely you'll find a command-line program with that feature. Warnings shouldn't be a problem though, as any well-written utility will generate warnings or set the ErrorLevel properly, and the batch file can easily redirect the warnings to a text file to be perused later. In any case, I guess the point's moot since SafetyCar's script seems to have done the trick for you.

Cheers!

P.S. I haven't seen any in-built pure DOS function yet that can do the job of a touch utility and update all the creation/modification/access date/time stamps of a file.

auwebio

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2010-07-07

Posts: 45

Re: A Timestamp problem: take from name and set on file

...Depending on the utility, it might be possible to get a preview, but I think it's unlikely you'll find a command-line program with that feature...Warnings shouldn't be a problem though, as any well-written utility will generate warnings or set the ErrorLevel properly, and the batch file can easily redirect the warnings to a text file to be perused later. In any case, I guess the point's moot since SafetyCar's script seems to have done the trick for you.
P.S. I haven't seen any in-built pure DOS function yet that can do the job of a touch utility and update all the creation/modification/access date/time stamps of a file.

Hellow, Andrew! oops... I mean, hello, Andrew. 
Thank you for all the information, it's really valuable to me. Indeed, I had not yet thought deeply enough on how to use the command-line utility. If I come to that point I will for sure make use of your suggestions. The thing with producing a text file with the output result is that I have yet another pass with a different application to check the final results of the operation. As you said yourself, the script is working very well for me (I almost can't believe that ReNamer is so flexible that I was able to achieve "almost" what I originaly intended, without causing any extra trouble for Denis). In any case, the solution that you pointed out is still valid and might be better for someone else.

Many thanks again for your help!