renames a pdf file to author-year-title.pdf

scholar_rename.rb

#!/usr/bin/env ruby

# scholar-rename
# prereq: pdftotext installation
# renames a pdf file to author-year-title.pdf
# confirms with user before moving
# warning: accurate ~ 50% of time

system("pdftotext -q #{ARGV.first} temptext")

author = ''
title = ''
yr = nil

File.open("temptext").each_with_index do |line, n|
  if n == 0
    title = line.chomp.gsub(' ', '_')
  elsif n == 1
    author = line.sub(',.*', '').split.last
  elsif yr.nil?
    test = /((19|20)\d\d)/.match(line)
    yr = test.to_s if test
  end
end

# display name
yr = '' if yr.nil?
name = author.upcase + '_' + yr + '_' + title + '.pdf'


# cleanup
puts name
printf 'Ok? [yN]: '
conf = STDIN.gets.chomp
File.rename(ARGV.first, name) if conf.match /(y|Y).*/
File.delete("temptext")

Updated: https://github.com/jeremywrnr/scholar-rename