Source code for AutomateTheBoringStuff.Ch09.P4_renameDates

#! python3
"""Rename dates

Renames filenames with American MM-DD-YYYY date format to European DD-MM-YYYY date format.

Uses :py:mod:`os` to get the list of files, :py:mod:`re` to find the files with the American
date format, and :py:mod:`shutil` to rename them.


Note:
    * Assumes only files with American date format are in the folder. May also match files with
      European date format.

    * Using debug mode: Prints out files to be renamed. Uncomment to rename files.

"""


[docs]def main(): import shutil, os, re # Create a regex that matches files with the American date format. datePattern = re.compile(r""" ^(.*?) # all text before the date ((0|1)?\d)- # one or two digits for the month ((0|1|2|3)?\d)- # one or two digits for the day ((19|20)\d\d) # four digits for the year (.*?)$ # all the text after the date """, re.VERBOSE) """re.compile: Regex object representing American date format MM-DD-YYYY""" # Loop over the files in the working directory. for amerFilename in os.listdir('.'): mo = datePattern.search(amerFilename) # Skip files without a date. if mo is None: continue # Get the different parts of the filename. beforePart = mo.group(1) monthPart = mo.group(2) dayPart = mo.group(4) yearPart = mo.group(6) afterPart = mo.group(8) # Form the European-style filename. euroFilename = beforePart + dayPart + '-' + monthPart + '-' + yearPart + afterPart # Get the full, absolute file paths. absWorkingDir = os.path.abspath('.') amerFilename = os.path.join(absWorkingDir, amerFilename) euroFilename = os.path.join(absWorkingDir, euroFilename) # Rename the files. print('Renaming "%s" to "%s"...' % (amerFilename, euroFilename)) # DEBUG
#shutil.move(amerFilename, euroFilename) # uncomment after testing if __name__ == '__main__': main()