ReNamer:Rules:Serialize

Serialize Rule

This rule works on a set of files, and inserts incremental numeric series of digits in the names of those filenames.

The files listed in the pane can be numbered in increasing or decreasing order, with various steps, repeat and reset configuration. The position of each file in the Files pane becomes important, so check the order of the files in the list before applying this rule.

Examples:

1. You have a bunch of log files, and you want to make them look like "log0001", "log0002", "log0003", etc.
2. You want to force specific sorting for files: "01 - Song XYZ", "02 - Song ABC", "03 - Song YYY", etc.

The parameters are as follows:

Parameter	Description
Index start	Starting number. For example, if the destination folder already has some files with serialized numbers, you can start with the next number.
Step	Increment the index by this value after each processed file. Usually 1, but you may like to enter a higher number here if files with intermediate numbers are expected later. Also, negative numbers can be used to make decremental indexes, e.g. -1, -2, -3, etc.
Repeat	How many times to repeat (reuse) the same index before incrementing it.
Reset every	Reset index to the initial value after processing this many files.
Reset if folder changes	Since ReNamer can work on files collected from multiple folders, this control allows you to reset the counter for each of those folders. The effect is as if you are repeating the same command for each of the folders separately.
Reset if file name changes	Reset the counter when the file name changes. This option is especially useful for fixing (serializing) duplicated file names, when the files with the same name are grouped together, which can be achieved by sorting the files by name or path.
Pad with zeros to length	Pad the inserted number with leading zeros. For example, "457" becomes "000457" if it is padded to reach 6 digits, and "0457" if padded to 4 digits.
Insert where	Specify where to insert the number (see below for individual options).

Options for where to insert the number:

Option	Description
Prefix	Before the original filename
Suffix	After the original filename
Position	Insert the number at the specified position.
Replace current name	Inserted number replaces the entire filename.
Skip extension	Exclude file extension when calculating the position for insertion.

A choice of the Numbering system dictates which symbols and enumeration technique are used for the serialization.

Number system	Description / Examples
Decimal digits	Index starts at 0 with repeat 1 and step 1: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, …
English letters	Index starts at 1 with repeat 1 and step 1: a, b, c, …, x, y, z, ba, bb, bc, …, bx, by, bz, ca, cb, cc, …, zx, zy, zz, baa, bab, bac, … Index starts at 1 with repeat 1 and step 1, pad to length 3: aaa, aab, aac, …, aax, aay, aaz, aba, abb, abc, …, abx, aby, abz, aca, acb, acc, …, azx, azy, azz, baa, bab, bac, …
Roman numerals	Index starts at 1 with repeat 1 and step 1: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, …
Simplified Chinese	Index starts at 1 with repeat 1 and step 1: 一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 一十, 一十一, 一十二, 一十三, …
Custom alphabetic	Index starts at 1 with repeat 1 and step 1, using "ABC" symbols: A, B, C, BA, BB, BC, CA, CB, CC, BAA, BAB, BAC, BBA, … Index starts at 1 with repeat 1 and step 1, using "01" symbols: 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 1010, 1011, 1100, …
Custom numeric	Index starts at 0 with repeat 1 and step 1, using "ABC" symbols: A, B, C, BA, BB, BC, CA, CB, CC, BAA, BAB, BAC, BBA, … Index starts at 0 with repeat 1 and step 1, using "01" symbols: 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 1010, 1011, 1100, …