Previewing files

TODO:Preview Proofapplies read,the uploadactive images,rules updateand links.shows the resulting names, without making any changes to files on disk. It is the essential step between setting up rules and committing to a rename.

Workflow

ReNamer showsWhen a preview ofis triggered, each marked file is passed through the newrule filenames,stack in order. Each rule transforms the name produced by the previous one, so thatthe youfinal result in the New Name column reflects all active rules applied cumulatively. This is why the order of rules matters — the same rules in a different sequence can decideproduce whethera yourdifferent outcome.

Only marked files and marked rules are workingincluded. as expected. If someUnmarked files showare unexpectedskipped results,and edittheir someNew Name column remains empty. Unmarked rules are ignored, which is a convenient way to test the effect of individual rules without removing them from the stack. See Managing rules andfor checkmore detail.

Preview results

After a preview, the previewFiles again.

pane

Walkthrough

Let us see howreflects the preview works.

In the example below, there are three rules in the stack:

1. Replaces "." "_" "%20" "-" with a space.
2. Strips the contents of round brackets and removes unnecessary spacing.
3. Capitalizes the first letter of the name and makes all other letters lowercase.

The ReNamer preview is shown below.

We can see that:following:

• InThe State column indicates whether each file is ready to rename or has a potential issue. A green arrow means the Filesfile pane,is theready. StateA warning sign flags a problem such as a duplicate name or an invalid character.
• The New Name column shows whether the renamingresulting will face any problems. In this case, the green arrow identifies files that are ready to go, while files with potential problems are marked with a warning sign.
• The New Name column shows a preview of the new names.name. If you have the Highlight changed names option enabledis all changedenabled, names willthat bediffer highlighted during preview (you can changefrom the highlight color in the settings). The first name is unchanged, so it is shown in black. The remaining names are affected by the rules, so theyoriginal are shown in red.a distinct colour, making unchanged files easy to spot.
• The checkError boxescolumn in the Rules pane allow you to disabledescribes any ruledetected temporarily. (Disable one of the rules and see the effect on the renaming.)
• The check boxes in the Files pane allow you to exempt any file/folder from the current renaming. New names are not shownissue for suchthat unmarked files.file.

ThereNote that preview validation can flag common problems in advance, but not every possible failure can be detected before the actual rename. See Validation for more detail on how warnings are many program options for previewing and preview process can vary based on those settings. For example, you can set it to refresh the preview automatically when new files and/or rules are added.generated.

You may also want to customize theThe columns displayed in the Files pane pane.can Forbe example,customised. manyMany users prefer to seeshow the Path and New pathPath columns.

columns

to
• see full paths alongside names. To customizetoggle columns, right-click onthe column header row. See Files header menu for more detail.

  Example

  

  The example above has three rules in the stripstack: two Clean Up rules that containsreplace allpunctuation column-headers.characters Aand menustrip popsbracket upcontents, allfollowed availableby columns.a SelectCase rule that capitalises the columnsfirst youletter want. From now on, ReNamer remembersof the name.

  • Do not change me.doc is unaffected by the rules and its new settings.name is shown in the same colour as the original.
  • The remaining files are transformed and their new names are highlighted.
  • The last file produces This is a.test, the same result as the file above it. The Error column flags this as Duplicate in the list, which would cause a conflict at rename time.

  ManualAutomatic modeand manual preview

  IfBy youdefault, dopreview notupdates selectautomatically whenever files or rules change. This behaviour is controlled by the AutomaticAuto preview option in Preview settings.

  When Auto preview is disabled, preview must be triggered manually by clicking the Preview mode, you must press the  button toor seepressing theF5. preview.

  This Manual Preview' mode is actually useful ifin youtwo dosituations:

  not
  want
  • When toworking miss out the subtle changes that can happen to the file names when you are adding new rules or if you adjust the file names manually after preview. It can also save youwith a lot of time when processing large amountnumber of files, sowhere instead of generagin aautomatic preview on every change youwould canbe slow.
  • When using manual editing to fine-tune names after a preview, as triggering a new preview manuallywould onlyoverwrite whenthose youedits.
  need to.

  WhileIn usingboth themodes, Manualfiles Preview mode, keep the following in mind:

  • Files will beare renamed exactly as you seeshown in the previewpreview.
    (WYSIWYG policy).
  • If you change the items manually, these changes are lost if you press the  button.