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@premek
Last active March 5, 2024 17:43
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Rename files in linux / bash using mv command without typing the full name two times
# Put this function to your .bashrc file.
# Usage: mv oldfilename
# If you call mv without the second parameter it will prompt you to edit the filename on command line.
# Original mv is called when it's called with more than one argument.
# It's useful when you want to change just a few letters in a long name.
#
# Also see:
# - imv from renameutils
# - Ctrl-W Ctrl-Y Ctrl-Y (cut last word, paste, paste)
function mv() {
if [ "$#" -ne 1 ] || [ ! -e "$1" ]; then
command mv "$@"
return
fi
read -ei "$1" newfilename
command mv -v -- "$1" "$newfilename"
}
@moviuro
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moviuro commented Apr 14, 2020

https://gist.github.com/premek/6e70446cfc913d3c929d7cdbfe896fef#file-mv-sh-L18 will fail with files that start with a dash:

$ mv -lol
toto
mv: invalid option -- 'l'
Try 'mv --help' for more information.

L18 should read:

command mv -v -- "$1" "$newfilename"

And also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22863551

@premek
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premek commented Apr 14, 2020

@moviuro ok I updated it, thanks! And I removed the file call (I wanted to have nicer arror messages)

@anisse
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anisse commented Apr 14, 2020

Looks like we keep reinventing this :)

I made this in 2018 (https://github.com/lgommans/vinamer) and recently discovered this was a reinvention of a 2017 project (https://github.com/thameera/vimv).

It looks like it's a reinvention of the much older (2006) vidir (works with any $EDITOR) ; packaged in debian, ubuntu or fedora in the package moreutils, along with other very useful tools:
https://joeyh.name/code/moreutils/

@nablaone
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$ apropos rename
$ man rename

@Humandoodlebug
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Humandoodlebug commented Apr 14, 2020

Fish shell equivalent:
~/.config/fish/functions/mv.fish

function mv --wraps mv
  if [ (count $argv) -ne 1 -o ! -f "$argv[1]" ]
    command mv $argv
    return
  end

  set newfilename (bash -c 'read -ei "$1" newfilename && echo "$newfilename"' '' "$argv[1]")
  command mv -v -- "$argv[1]" "$newfilename"
end

@karekaa
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karekaa commented Apr 14, 2020

Just thinking that if you want to call the mv command again when pressing up, after using it to change the name of a file, it will use the original file name, forcing the user to adjust the name,

You think like this?
Anway, be aware that «history of arguments» are found by <ALT><.> (<ALT><Punctation>) so this:
~ $ touch zoo
~ $ mv <ALT><.><SPACE><ALT><.>

... will type out:
~ $ mv zoo zoo

... and by the way, continue <ALT><.> repeated times to get older «arguments»

@domyrtille
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@rohan-mo
-bash: emacs: command not found

Meaning you don't have emacs installed or the bin is not in your $PATH
Easiest way is to apt install emacs or brew install emacs

Other way will be to do something like that:
export EDITOR=vim if you have vim or replace vim with what you have installed

@cameronsstone
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cameronsstone commented Apr 14, 2020

Firstly, thank you - this is nice™.

zsh equivalent:

function mv() {
  if [ "$#" -ne 1 ] || [ ! -f "$1" ]; then
    command mv "$@"
    return
  fi

  newfilename="$1"
  vared newfilename
  command mv -v -- "$1" "$newfilename"
}

Kudos to Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' for StackExchange answer.

BTW, fish also has vared, so this should probably work for fish, too, and be lighter-weight than Humandoodlebug's excellent bash subshell solution.

@dbgrigsby
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Yeah, many ways to do this but would argue readline's Ctrl-W Ctrl-Y Ctrl-Y is cleanest since it's useful to know anyway and available almost anywhere. :)

Screen Recording 2020-04-13 at 06 43 PM
That is quite nice! Biggest fan of this since it's very little typing and applies in way more situations than the OP

@rileytg
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rileytg commented Apr 15, 2020

@rileytg man readline (sorry for the terse answer but that's the library bash uses and where you will find, in long form, what options are available)

thank you! i didnt realize readline was so foundational to a lot of what i use every day

@szkrd
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szkrd commented Apr 16, 2020

I like it, it's especially useful if you have spaces in the file (or directory) name (btw the bash cut last word would not work then). Probably I would also flip the conditional and add directory checking:

if [ "$#" -eq 1 ] && ( [ -f "$1" ] || [ -d "$1" ] ); then
  read -ei "$1" newfilename; command mv -v "${1}" "${newfilename}"; return $?
fi
command mv "$@"; return $?

@b3n10
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b3n10 commented Apr 16, 2020

You can also do Ctrl-W followed by Ctrl-Y after typing the path, if you are using readline style keybindings. Mainstream shells come with readline style bindings by default.

Ctrl-W deletes the previous word for me

@premek
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premek commented Apr 16, 2020

@szkrd

[...] and add directory checking

-e was what I wanted, not -f. Thanks

@NightMachinery
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In zsh you need compdef mv=ls, it seems, or the completion breaks.

@fernandezpablo85
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@premek your snippet is great, short, concise and to the point. Thanks for sharing it.

@collegeimprovements
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Yeah, many ways to do this but would argue readline's Ctrl-W Ctrl-Y Ctrl-Y is cleanest since it's useful to know anyway and available almost anywhere. :)

Screen Recording 2020-04-13 at 06 43 PM

Excellent.

@zouhair
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zouhair commented May 4, 2020

There are even more flexible ways (in bash, at least), for example (here renaming .txt to .json):

$ touch config.txt
$ mv config.txt !#:1:s/txt/json

This one eludes me, care to explain how it works?

@christian-oudard
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I would recommend adding --interactive to the mv commands in the script. As it is now, it is possible to overwrite existing files with no confirmation using this script.

@thecatvoid
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With the fish shell, you can type Alt-E to edit any command line in your favorite editor where you likely already know shortcuts for copying, pasting and modifying. The great thing is that is a general solution that works for any command line edits.

In bash it is C-x C-e

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