transform-mv
Originally hosted on http://tmv.sourceforge.net  
Author: Gene Pavlovsky <[email protected]>

This is an old tool of mine that I still use daily.
It could use some improvements and minor bug fixes.
One day I might decide to put some more love in it.

1. Introduction

Renames files/directories according to sed script(s). Optionally,
converts pathnames to upper/lower-case, from/to the specified
character set, or even pipes them through arbitrary command(s).

2. Documentation

The 'tmv' shell script applies a number of transformations to a list
of pathnames (files/directories). The list of pathnames is specified
on a command line. Pathnames will also be read from standard input
in case none were found on command line, or '-' was specified on
command line. Transformations are commands that read their input,
process it, and output the results. This architecture allows for
several built-in transformations and a multitude of external ones,
by specifying arbitrary command(s) to process the pathnames.
Please note that only the last slash-delimited portion of the name
is transformed (e.g. 'tmv -l /A/B' will move '/A/B' to '/A/b').

Usage: tmv [options] pathname [pathname]*

2.1. Transformation using sed

This transformation, the most flexible of the built-in ones,
uses sed to perform a sed script on the pathnames.

Options:

  -e SCRIPT, --expression=SCRIPT
        add the SCRIPT to the sed script
  -f FILE, --file=FILE
        add the contents of FILE to the sed script
  -r, --regexp-extended
        use extended regular expressions in the sed script

All these options are taken as-is from sed itself. Like sed, multiple
scripts can be specified. But, unlike sed, '-e/--expression' option
must be specified even when using only one expression.

Examples:

  # For all files/directories in the current directory, change spaces to
  # underscores, change sequences of several underscores to one underscore.
  find . -depth | tmv -e 'y/ /_/' -e 's/_\{2,\}/_/g'

2.2. Conversion to upper/lower-case

Pathnames are converted to upper/lower-case using 'dd conv=[lu]case'.

Options:

  -l, --lcase
        convert pathnames to lower case (using 'dd conv=lcase')
  -u, --ucase
        convert pathnames to upper case (using 'dd conv=ucase')

I never use '--ucase', but I had to add it for the symmetry with '--lcase'.

Examples:

  # For all files/directories (not recursively) in new_music, convert
  # pathnames to lowercase.
  tmv -l new_music/*

2.3. Character set conversion

Pathnames are converted from one character set to another using iconv.

Options:

      --iconv=FROM:TO
        convert pathnames from charset FROM to charset TO
      --iconv=FROM
        convert pathnames from charset FROM to locale (user) charset
      --iconv=:TO
        convert pathnames from locase (user) charset to charset TO

Examples:

  # For all file/directories in copy_of_joliet_cd_with_russian_pathnames,
  # convert the pathnames' charset from CP1251 to locale (user) charset
  find copy_of_joliet_cd_with_russian_pathnames -depth | tmv --iconv=cp1251

2.4. Transformation with external command(s)

Pathnames can be transformed by arbitrary external command(s).

Options:

      --pipe=COMMAND
        pipe pathnames through COMMAND; several '--pipe' options can be
        specified; commands will be executed in order of their specification

Examples:

  # Actually, all processing command useful for me are already done as
  # built-in transformations, so I'll give an example with sed again.
  # For all files in the current directory, change the extension from
  # 'htm' to 'html'. Nothing will be done with files not ending with 'htm'.
  find . -maxdepth 1 -type f | tmv --pipe='sed "s/htm$/html/"'

2.5. Other options

  -b, --backup
        mv is always run with '-f' option, so if you are afraid tmv might
        overwrite some files, you can (with GNU version of mv) use '-b'
        option; for details see mv(1)
  -q, --quiet
        by default, verbose mode is on, displaying some progress information,
        and the names of source/destination files; this options makes tmv silent
  -n, --dry-run
        no files are renamed, but source/destination files are printed (if
        not '--quiet', which is pointless in conjunction with this option);
        this mode is useful when you're not sure about the correctness of your
        sed script(s), don't know the FROM charset and are just guessing etc.

2.6. Options processing notes

If you want to specify non-option arguments starting with '-', write them after
a '--', after which all the remaining arguments are treated as options.

2.7. Little scripts built around tmv

2.7.1. tmv-ul

Usage: tmv-ul path [path]*

'tmv-ul' script finds all files/directories in given path(s), and
change spaces to underscores, converting text to lower case. Accepts
no options (not even '--help' and '--version').

2.7.2. tmv-strip

Usage: tmv-strip string

'tmv-strip' script finds all files in the current directory, containing
a given string, and removes it from them. Accepts no options (not even
'--help' and '--version').

2.8. Reporting bugs / Sending patches / Requesting enhancements

If you think you've found a bug, written a patch or want a new
feature badly, feel free to mail me at <[email protected]>.
Be sure to set the subject to 'tmv: bugreport: blah blah blah',
'tmv: patch: blah blah blah' or 'tmv: rfe: blah blah blah'
for bugreport, patch or RFE respectively.
When writing bugreports, be sure to include as much information as
possible. Be absolutely sure to write how to reproduce the bug.