File Renaming Controls

Selected Template: The naming scheme or template applied to each listed file when the Preview or Rename buttons are clicked. For example, if the selected template is "Artist - Title.mp3," then new filenames are constructed by first 1) retrieving whatever text is in the Artist tag field, then 2) appending to this a hyphen with a space on each side, and then 3) adding to this whatever text is in the Title field. Finally, a file extension is added.

• Clear: Removes all text from the Selected Template box in preparation for creating or loading a new one.
• Save: Saves the current Selected Template into the list of Saved Templates so it can be recalled at a later time.
• Saved Templates: An editable list of stored, selectable file renaming templates. Add new ones by using the Save option above.
• Delete: Removes the template currently shown from the Saved Templates list.
• Backup: Saves the Saved Templates list to a backup copy restorable with the Restore button described below.
• Restore: Clears the current Saved Templates list and reloads it from a backup list created with the Backup button above.
• Build Template: Use to create your own renaming templates in the Selected Template box. Many tag fields are represented in several styles in the pull-down list. Select a field/style combination from the list, then click the Add button to append it to the end of the template displayed in the Selected Template box.
• Add: Appends the selected field to the end of the template in the Selected Template box.

The presence of a caret symbol '^' in a style indicates that two fields are being combined into one, with a single space character placed in between. Thus, no Separators are inserted between the two fields used in this style.

Separator: Selects the field delimiter to be used in renaming templates. By default, the Separator selected here is synchronized with the one used on the Main Editor pages; if you change it in this location it is changed there also, and vice versa. However, you may specify in the Preferences Behavior section that each individual page be allowed to have its own Separator. The active Separator for each page is always shown in the Status Bar at the bottom of the program. You can click on it there to select another via popup menu.

• [ - ] A dash with a space on each side
• [-] A dash with no spaces on either side
• [- ] A dash with a space on the right side
• [ -] A dash with a space on the left side
• [ _ ] An underbar character
• [ . ] A period
• [ , ] A comma
• [, ] A comma with a space on the right side
• [ ~ ] A tilde with a space on each side
• [~] A tilde with no spaces on either side
• [ ] A space

Bracket Style: Use this pull-down list to select how Separators should be placed around bracketed data (i.e., tag data that's enclosed in parenthesis ( ), square brackets [ ], or curly braces {} ). Four choices are available:

• ( ) - : place a Separator on the right but none on the left
• - ( ) : place a Separator on the left but none on the right
• - ( ) - : place a Separator on both sides
• ( ) : place a Separator on neither side

By default, consecutive bracketed items are treated as a single item for the purposes of determining placement of Separators. Thus, in the following example (which uses Bracket Style 3 above), where the fields [Track] and (Genre) are placed consecutively, brackets appear on the sides but not in between:

"Album - [Track] (Genre) - Title.mp3"

You can override this default behavior to have a Separator added between consecutive bracketed fields by using the Bracket separators option below.

Bracket separators ) - (: Determines whether consecutive bracketed items in series have Separators placed in between them or not. When checked, the example given above in "Bracket Style" instead becomes::

"Album - [Track] - (Genre) - Title.mp3"

Add Backslash : Appends a backslash "\" character to the text in the Selected Template box. The presence of this character indicates that Directory Restructuring is to be performed, and that all text to the left of the backslash is to be interpreted as a path for storing a renamed file. As an example, suppose you are working in folder "C:\MP3" and you have constructed the following template for renaming files:

"Artist\Album\Track - Title.mp3"

All files are renamed to "Track - Title," while the data in each file's "Artist" and "Album" fields are used to find or create a new storage location beneath folder "MP3," for each renamed file in that particular folder. As a specific case, say a file's Artist field contains "Bee Gees," its Album field contains "Best Of," its Title is "Nights On Broadway," and its Track number is "8." By default, the file is renamed and relocated as

"C:\MP3\Bee Gees\Best Of\08 - Nights On Broadway.mp3."

Rather than using the folder in which each file resides as the root folder beneath which subfolders are created and into which renamed files are move ("C:\MP3" in this example), you can specify a default path for auto-creating subfolders and auto-moving renamed files (see "Rename Root Folder" on the first page of Preferences).

• Caps: Selects the capitalization style for new filenames.
• Capitalize: Capitalize each word in a new filename. Tag text used for renaming is capitalized for specific categories of tag fields only and on a field-by-field basis, in accordance with the "Apply to..." settings found on the Options Panel. Capitalizations performed will automatically pick up any Anti-Capitalization and/or Exact-Capitalization settings defined on the Capitalization Editor (<Ctrl+S>), if Anti-Cap and/or Exact-Cap, below, are enabled.
• All Upper: All filenames are created in all uppercase letters.
• All Lower: All filenames are created in all lowercase letters..
• As Is: Create names from tag data exactly as the data appears in the tags, with no capitalization changes made.

The capitalization setting you choose here can also be used in another way. If you clear the Selected Template box and leave it blank, clicking the Preview button applies the selected capitalization setting directly to the contents of the Preview Window. That is, new filenames are not constructed from tag data, but instead existing names are capitalized in accordance with capitalization setting specified here.

• Substitution: Mass-replaces text entered in the Replace Box with text entered in the With Box. Previewed filenames are searched for the "Replace" text and, when found, replaced with the "With" text.
• Clear: Removes all text from the Replace and the With substitution boxes.
• Replace: Enter text in this box to be replaced or deleted in previewed filenames.
• With: Enter text in this box to be substituted for text entered in the Replace text box. Leave this box empty to have the Replace text simply removed rather than replaced.
• Preview: Previews proposed filename changes in the Preview Window. Checkboxes are provided for including or excluding specific files from the rename process, and individual names may be manually edited by double-clicking a row or choosing "Edit" from a popup menu. The Preview button appears with an "R" when a "Selected Template"rename is to be previewed, and an "S" when a "Substitution" preview is to be performed. Switch between preview types using the mouse: click a Substitution control to activate substitution previews; click any other control to activate renaming via template.
• Back: Discards the current preview and returns to the previous one.
• Rename: When enabled, renames files to the previewed filenames as shown in the Preview Window.
• Check for Duplicates: Although new filenames are checked for uniqueness dynamically as files are renamed, this feature can be used before renaming files to check for duplicates beforehand, thus avoiding warning messages and skipped files that duplicates otherwise produce. Duplicate filenames can occur because two or more tags can contain the same data in the tag fields used to create filenames. When duplicates are found, the number of names that occur more than once, as well as the total number of duplicates, are reported, and the duplicates themselves are highlighted in the Preview Window. You can save the list of duplicates to a text file or view it as a printable report.
• Reset: Discards all queued previews and reloads the Preview Window with current filenames.