Filed under: Friday Favorite
Friday Favorite: R-Name
R-Name is a simple, single-purpose application that takes the names of files and folders on your Mac and renames them one at a time or in batches. I use it almost every day. Yes, there are a dozen ways to batch rename files. I like R-Name for a few reasons:
- It's fast, both in loading and renaming
- Easy to rename just files, folders or recurse folder
- Hard to mess things up because you have to preview the new names before committing
- Drag and drop (Apple forgets how important this feature is all too frequently)
Oh, and did I mention: it's donationware! The author asks you to make a donation to UNICEF. Unfortunately, R-Name appears to be abandonware -- the author's site is currently down (thus the source code is unavailable) and best I can tell the app is only supported to 10.3. But it works for me. What renaming tool or workflow do you use?
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
cmuska902 said 3:25PM on 2-27-2009
Automator.
Reply
Ethan said 8:16AM on 2-28-2009
Ditto to that.
Kory said 3:26PM on 2-27-2009
ok i'm confused? so is this about a cool app but we can no longer get? then what's the purpose?
Reply
Victor Agreda, Jr. said 3:48PM on 2-27-2009
You can still get it. I use it all the time. Thus, a Friday Favorite -- but many TUAW bloggers swear by A Better Finder Rename.
The idea is to start the conversation about what everyone else uses ;)
tukan said 3:31PM on 2-27-2009
I'm a big fan of Name Mangler http://many-tricks.com/namemangler/ with it's super easy interface. Changed when Forklift (otherwise an excellent tool) has deleted some of my files when renaming (thank god there is time machine).
Reply
G said 8:52PM on 2-27-2009
+1 for Name Mangler.
Much faster than Automator. Still alive. Zero problems. Donationware.
Kit said 11:15PM on 2-27-2009
Another vote for Name Mangler
Will said 12:46AM on 3-01-2009
Another vote for Name Mangler. Simple, fast and works the way you would expect. I tried several others but NM didn't do anything crazy with the renames. Perfect.
Tim said 10:21AM on 3-02-2009
NameMangler++
toddkrokowski said 3:32PM on 2-27-2009
I personally like: http://www.mrrsoftware.com/MRRSoftware/NameChanger.html
Reply
loudestnoise said 3:34PM on 2-27-2009
Ya, no kidding Automator does this quite easily. You can even save particular jobs and re use them.
Reply
tcc3 said 3:35PM on 2-27-2009
Has every post today been a software commercial? At least this isnt an iphone app...
Reply
GCarden said 4:47PM on 2-27-2009
Shut up. It's donation/abandonware. The author of the post genuinely finds it helpful, and is letting others know about it. Go whine somewhere else.
tcc3 said 4:54PM on 2-27-2009
This is actually the most usefull of the posts. It unfortunately got the comment because it was the one on top.
My criticism stands. I understand if its slow news day, but this blog is (should be) better than a gloried app store commercial.
TMP said 3:37PM on 2-27-2009
You sure this isn't a malware scheme?
Reply
Scott said 3:37PM on 2-27-2009
Seconding NameMangler. The best (free) renaming utility I've used.
Reply
Coffeerob said 4:00PM on 2-27-2009
What is the use of telling us about an app that is only works in 10.3 and we can't download or use...
Some editing needed here guys!!!
Reply
puhsitch said 7:29PM on 2-27-2009
It's only *supported* to 10.3, but it still works beyond that. And you can download the software from MacUpdate and VersionTracker -- it's linked in the article.
mjl said 3:46PM on 2-27-2009
Actually one can find the source on the net. Ask google for R-Name3src.zip -- perhaps someone wants to pick up the pieces and run with it?
Reply
RR said 3:55PM on 2-27-2009
Make a donation to a wasteful, bloated, government agency that might very well be the least effective children's aid group in operation today? Umm, no thanks.
Reply