Reformat dates in ReNamer

Stamimail · 2016-05-12 23:08

(Copied from Emails...)

I think it would be better to make it like this:

Find date/time formats:
[ ] Automatically
[ ] Select format from the list (Drop List)
[ ] Custom ______

and the same for Convert to:
[ ] Automatically (As the User system)
[ ] Select format from the list (Drop List)
[ ] Custom _______

The character "/" is invalid, so you should remove it, or make * sign, like *dd/mm/yy, and note about it.
I didn't see Find and Convert regarding Time.
Empty Convert (or None) should be Remove the Date/Time.
I know there is a possibility to add Date from the Insert, But I'd prefer to have it also here.
[I think it is good to let the user have and get the same functionality by different ways]
Think also about, change position of the Date, to be able to move the Date from end to the begin, for example.

Find Dates Auto option is very missing. Also, We can't choose multiple dates from the list by Ctrl or Checkboxes.
Can't you read the default order of the d m y from the System Clock to define the right order?
Or
You can decide that ReNamer will decide the correct order by itself, and the user will have to look at the results by the preview. It can be helpful for many cases, especially where is only a few missions to rename.

* Use the system date format not to determine the format but to learn the correct order of months and days in Date.
* Ctrl/Checkboxes/Other will make it more easy.

Last edited by den4b (2016-05-13 06:56)

den4b · 2016-05-13 06:54

Find date/time formats:
[ ] Automatically
Find Dates Auto option is very missing.

This is not feasible because of a wide variability of formats. This can produce a lot of false positive matches.

Using the system date format is rarely useful because most system formats contain invalid filename characters, e.g. dd/mm/yyyy.

I didn't see Find and Convert regarding Time.

Time format can be specified just as well. It's just not very common for users wanting to convert time in filenames so there are no predefined time formats in the dropbdown box.

We can't choose multiple dates from the list by Ctrl or Checkboxes.

To specify multiple input formats in Reformat Dates rule use the "Separate multiple items" option from the button beside the input field.

Last edited by den4b (2016-05-13 07:08)

Stamimail · 2016-05-13 11:42

This is not feasible because of a wide variability of formats. This can produce a lot of false positive matches.

This is on the one hand. But we need to remember it will be so useful in case we have few missions, or one kind of pattern. It will save the time to fill the Find/Convert fileds. The user can see in Results (Preview) if this what he wants, and if not he will edit manually.
If there is more than one option to read something, the developer needs just to guess what is the user wish, in such a case.
The user will see in Results if this correct, and decide if to go on.

Using the system date format is rarely useful because most system formats contain invalid filename characters, e.g. dd/mm/yyyy.

By the system date format, you can guess/know what the user is used to, and how user expect to have results. For example:
dd-mm-yyyy
mm-dd-yyyy

To specify multiple input formats in Reformat Dates rule use the "Separate multiple items" option from the button beside the input field.

It is less convenient to fill manually. Ctrl/Checkboxes/Other will make it more easy.

Andrew · 2016-05-13 15:18

Stamimail wrote:

Can't you read the default order of the d m y from the System Clock to define the right order?

Ha, not the same suggestion at all, but it did remind me of this.

den4b · 2016-05-25 16:16

Local date and time format could be added as the first option in both "Find" and "Convert" dropdown boxes, but there are few uncertainties.

For example, if we have a system with the following format settings:
* LondDateFormat: "dd mmmm yyyy"
* ShortDateFormat: "dd/mm/yyyy"
* LongTimeFormat: "hh:mm:ss"
* ShortTimeFormat: "hh:mm"

We have several choices now:
1) Which combination of date and time formats should be used (long vs short).
2) Which sanitization character should be used to replace invalid filename characters (perhaps "-" for dates and "." for time), or should they stay as is for the user to decide what to do with them.

In the end, is any of this going to be useful for the end user if such decisions are made for the user?

Stamimail · 2016-05-26 21:37

Here is an example, for images files sent to me by WhatsUp app:

IMG-20160427-WA0063.jpg
IMG-20160524-WA0102.jpg

Don't you think Renamer can Find Automatically the Date in the FileName, and guess we are talking about the format: yyyymmdd? (2016)

+

There are common formats, like yyyymmdd or ddmmyy. You can ignore uncommon formats like mmyy.

den4b · 2016-05-27 09:49

Stamimail wrote:

Don't you think Renamer can Find Automatically the Date in the FileName, and guess we are talking about the format: yyyymmdd?

Yes, it is possible to extract 20160427 date from IMG-20160427-WA0063 but only if you know that right format, i.e. "yyyymmdd".

But it is not possible to know the right format, because that depends on the user and his/her files. Even in your example IMG-20160427-WA0063 and IMG-20160524-WA0102, 0063 and 0102 could also be dates in "mmyy" format.

Stamimail wrote:

There are common formats, like yyyymmdd or ddmmyy. You can ignore uncommon formats like mmyy.

This is very subjective. What is common to you, may be very uncommon for other people, and people in other countries.

den4b wrote:

Local date and time format could be added as the first option in both "Find" and "Convert" dropdown boxes, but there are few uncertainties.

Just in case it is not clear: This means that the local date-time format can be easily detected and inserted as the first option in the dropdown menus in the Reformat Date rule. So user can easily select the local format in the Reformat Date rule, without having to type it manually.

Stamimail · 2016-05-29 17:10

This means that the local date-time format can be easily detected and inserted as the first option in the dropdown menus in the Reformat Date rule.

I can tell you that, For me, it won't be so useful to have it, since my local date-time format is the common format dd/mm/yyyy. The character "/" is not valid in Filenames. It will be good for Text renaming.

As I wrote before, it will be very useful, if there will be Auto option (checkbox) in Find, letting the computer to guess what is the right date Format in Each file, so that the user won't need to do much in Find. Just to decide in Convert what to convert to.

den4b · 2016-05-31 20:15

Stamimail wrote:

For me, it won't be so useful to have it, since my local date-time format is the common format dd/mm/yyyy. The character "/" is not valid in Filenames. It will be good for Text renaming.

If you are saying that your local date-time format is useless, even if invalid characters are replaced with valid, then how do you think it would be possible to automatically find correct date-time formats when the range of possible formats is in hundreds or thousands.

For example, if you local short date format is "dd/mm/yyyy" and long time format is "hh:mm:ss", invalid characters in date are replaced by "-" and in time by "." resulting in "dd-mm-yyyy hh.mm.ss". If this option appears as the first option in the dropdown of the Reformat Date rule, is that going to be completely useless?

Stamimail wrote:

As I wrote before, it will be very useful, if there will be Auto option (checkbox) in Find, letting the computer to guess what is the right date Format in Each file, so that the user won't need to do much in Find. Just to decide in Convert what to convert to.

The variation of possible date-time formats is huge, it will create too many conflicting situations, resulting in more harm than good.

Stamimail · 2016-06-02 22:12

Put attention that the dd-mm-yyyy format is already in the formats list, and all you discussed with me, it's about to put it at the top of the list.
What should be at the top of the list, are the recent formats used by the user (Separated).

how do you think it would be possible to automatically find correct date-time formats when the range of possible formats is in hundreds or thousands.

You don't have to include all formats exist, but only the typicals.
For example, Auto feautre in Find, will try to look for all the typical formats there are already in the formats list.
It will be useful because, it will save the user the time and effort to find the desired format it in the list, and when there are more than one foramt in the files.

IMG-20160427-WA0063.jpg
IMAGE 24052016.jpg

Find = Auto
Convert = dd-mm-yyyy

Preview Results

IMG-27-04-2016-WA0063.jpg
IMAGE 24-05-2016.jpg

den4b Forum

#1 2016-05-12 23:08

Reformat dates in ReNamer

#2 2016-05-13 06:54

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#3 2016-05-13 11:42

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#4 2016-05-13 15:18

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#5 2016-05-25 16:16

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#6 2016-05-26 21:37

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#7 2016-05-27 09:49

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#8 2016-05-29 17:10

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#9 2016-05-31 20:15

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

#10 2016-06-02 22:12

Re: Reformat dates in ReNamer

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