Provided by: renameutils_0.12.0-3_amd64 bug

NAME

       qmv, qcp - Rename or copy files quickly, editing the file names in a text editor

SYNOPSIS

       qcp [OPTION]... [FILE]...

       qmv [OPTION]... [FILE]...

       qcmd --command=COMMAND [OPTION]... [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

       This manual page document describes the qcp, qmv and qcmd commands.

       The  qmv  program allows files to be renamed by editing their names in any text editor. By
       changing a letter in a text document, a letter in a filename can  be  changed.  Since  the
       files are listed after each other, common changes can be made more quickly.

       The qcp program works like qmv, but copies files instead of moving them.

       The  qmv  program  was built with safety in mind - bogus renames caused by human error are
       avoided by performing as many checks as  possible.   Because  of  this,  qmv  supports  an
       interactive  mode  where  each  step in the rename procedure can be executed manually. The
       default is to start qmv in non-interactive mode. However, when  there  is  a  conflict  or
       error,  qmv  will  drop to interactive mode (instead of losing all user-made changes). For
       more information on the renaming process  and  interactive  mode,  see  below.  This  also
       applies to qcp.

       The  qcmd  program  works just like qmv and qcp but allows you to specify which command to
       execute.

       The ls(1) program is used to list files to rename or copy. Therefore qmv,  qcp,  and  qcmd
       accepts some ls options.

RENAMING/COPYING PROCESS

       The process of renaming or copying files consists of many steps. They are:

       List files
              Generate a list files to rename from command-line arguments by using ls(1).

       Create an editable text file
              The edit format creates an editable text file with the file names.

       Start the editor
              Start the text editor and wait until the user has finished editing it.

       Read the edited text file
              The edit format reads the edited text file now with updated file names.

       Check rename and reorder to resolve conflicts (qmv only)
              This is a complicated step which involves the following tasks:

              Tag  renames  where the destination file already exists, renames where the old file
              is now missing or inaccessible, and renames renames where  the  new  name  was  not
              changed.  Perform  a  topologic sort on the renames, so that renaming b->c, a->b is
              possible.  Resolve cross references by  renaming  into  temporary  names,  so  that
              renaming e->f, f->e (or e->f, f->g, g->e and so on) is possible.

              This step results in a plan of renames.

       Display the plan.
              Display the plan to the user.

       Apply the plan.
              Apply  the  plan  by  actually  renaming  or  copying  files  (unless  --dummy  was
              specified).

       If an error occurs during any of the above steps (except the  first),  qmv/qcp  drops  the
       user  into  the  interactive  mode.  This way no changes should be lost, and errors can be
       corrected manually before continuing.  See below for  a  description  of  the  interactive
       mode.

OPTIONS

       These  programs  follow the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with
       two dashes (`-').

       -a, --all
              (Passed to ls.) Do not hide entries starting with `.'.

       -A, --almost-all
              (Passed to ls.) Do not list implied `.' and `..'.

       -B, --ignore-backups
              (Passed to ls.) Do not list implied entries ending with `~'.

       -c     (Passed to ls.) Sort by ctime (time of last modification).

       --command=COMMAND
              Execute COMMAND instead of mv or cp.

       -d, --directory
              (Passed to ls.) List directory entires instead of contents.

       -r, --reverse
              (Passed to ls.) Reverse order while sorting.

       -R, --recursive
              (Passed to ls.) List subdirectories recursively.

       -S     (Passed to ls.) Sort by file size.

       --sort=WORD
              (Passed to ls.) Sort by extension (-X), none (-U), size (-S),  time  (-t),  version
              (-v), status (-c), time (-t), atime (-u), or access (-u).

       --time=WORD
              (Passed  to  ls.)  If sorting is done by time (--sort=time), sort by atime, access,
              use, ctime or status time.

       -t     (Passed to ls.) Sort by modification time.

       -u     (Passed to ls.) Sort by access time.

       -U     (Passed to ls.) Do not sort; list entries in directory order.

       -X     (Passed to ls.) Sort alphabetically by entry extension.

       -f, --format=FORMAT
              Change edit format of text file. See below for possible values.

       -o, --options=OPTIONS
              Pass options to the selected edit format. OPTIONS is in the format

              OPTION[=VALUE][,OPTION[=VALUE]...]

              For a list of available options for each format, use --options=help or see below.

       -i, --interactive
              Start in command mode (see below for information on this mode).

       -e, --editor=PROGRAM
              Specify program to edit text file  with.  The  default  program  is  determined  by
              looking  at  the  VISUAL  environment  variable,  or if that is not set, the EDITOR
              environment variable. If that is not set either, use the program called editor.

       --ls=PROGRAM
              Specify path of the ls program. If you omit the directory, the executable  will  be
              searched for in the directories specified by the PATH environment variable.

       -v, --verbose
              Be more verbose about what is being done.

       --dummy
              Do everything as usually, except actually renaming any files ("dummy" mode).

       --help Show summary of options.

       --version
              Output version information and exit.

EDIT FORMATS

       An  edit format is responsible for generating a text file for editing, and parsing it once
       it has been edited. The default format is dual-column, but  there  are  other  formats  as
       well.

       Not  all  edit  formats  take the same options. Therefore, it is necessary to specify them
       using the --options (-o) option. This option takes a list of "suboptions" similar  to  the
       -o option in mount(8).

       Available  edit  formats  are  `single-column'  (or  `sc'),  `dual-column'  (or `dc'), and
       `destination-only' (or `do'). The default format is dual-column.

DUAL-COLUMN FORMAT

       The dual-column format (`dual-column' or `dc') displays files in two columns. This is  the
       default  and  recommended  format.   The  leftmost  column is usually the source file name
       (which should not be edited), and the rightmost column the destination file name.

       Supported options:

       swap   Swap location of old and new names when editing. I.e. the leftmost  column  is  now
              the destination file name, and the rightmost the source file name.

       separate
              Put a blank line between all renames.

       tabsize=SIZE
              By  default,  tab characters of size 8 are used to separate the columns.  With this
              option the width of these tab characters can be changed.

       spaces Use space characters instead of tab characters when indenting.

       width=WIDTH
              This option specifies the character position (horizontally) which the  second  file
              name starts at.

       autowidth
              Normally,  if the source file name is longer than width characters, the destination
              name is printed on the next  line  instead.   With  this  option  enabled  however,
              qmv/qcp  will  adjust  the  width  so that source and destination file names can be
              displayed on one line.

              If a width has been specified with width prior to autowidth,  that  width  will  be
              used as a minimum width.

              Example: Assume that width=10,autowidth is specified. Even if all source file names
              are shorter than five characters, the split width would be 10. If  there  had  been
              one  file name longer than 10 characters, the final width would have been more than
              10 characters.

              This option is enabled by default.

       indicator1=TEXT
              Text to put before the first file name (column).

       indicator2=TEXT
              Text to put before the second file name (column).

       help   Show summary of edit format options.

SINGLE-COLUMN FORMAT

       The single-column format (`single-column' or `sc') displays files in  a  single  column  -
       first source file name and on the next line the destination file name.

       Supported options:

       swap   Swap  location  of old and new names when editing. I.e. the first line will contain
              the destination file name, and the next line the source file name.

       separate
              Put a blank line between all renames.

       indicator1=TEXT
              Text to put before the first file name.

       indicator2=TEXT
              Text to put before the second file name.

       help   Show summary of edit format options.

DESTINATION-ONLY FORMAT

       The  destination-only  format  (`destination-only'  or  `do')  displays  files  only   the
       destination  file  name, one on each line. This format is generally not recommended, since
       the only way to identify source file name is by looking at the line number. But it may  be
       useful with some text editors.

       Supported options:

       separate
              Put a blank line between all renames (file names).

INTERACTIVE MODE

       In  interactive  mode  qmv/qcp reads commands from the keyboard, parses them, and executes
       them. This is done using GNU readline.

       The following commands are available:

       ls, list [OPTIONS].. [FILES]..
              Select files to rename. If no files are specified,  select  all  files  in  current
              directory.  The accepted options are those which are passed to ls(1). Use `help ls'
              to display a list of these.

       import FILE
              Read files to rename from a text file. Each line should correspond to  an  existing
              file to rename.

       ed, edit
              Edit  renames  in a text editor. If this command has been run before, and not `all'
              is specified, only edit renames with errors.

       plan   Display the current rename-plan. (This plan is created after `edit'.)

       apply  Apply the current plan, i.e. rename files. Only those files marked  as  OK  in  the
              plan will be renamed.

       retry  If  some  rename failed earlier during `apply', this command will try those renames
              again.

       show   Display the value of the specified configuration variable, or all variables if none
              specified. See below for a list of configuration variables.

       set VARIABLE VALUE
              Set the value of a configuration variable.

       exit, quit
              Exit the program. If there are unapplied changes, the user will be notified so, and
              it will be necessary to run this command an extra time to exit the program.

       help [ls|usage]
              If `ls' is specified, display  list  options.  If  `usage'  is  specified,  display
              accepted  command  line  options. Otherwise display help on commands in interactive
              mode.

       version
              Display version information.

VARIABLES

       The following variables are available in interactive mode:

       dummy BOOLEAN

       editor STRING

       format STRING

       options STRING
              These variables corresponds to the options with the same name.

       tempfile STRING
              This variable contains the name of the temporary file which is edited with  `edit'.
              It cannot be set; only be read with `show'.

       A boolean value is specified as `0', `false', `no', `off' or `1', `true', `yes', and `on'.
       Strings are specified without quotes.

EXAMPLES

       Edit names of files in current directory.
            qmv

       Edit names of files with extension `.c'. Sort files by modification time.
            qmv -t *.c

       Edit names of files using the nedit editor and with column width 100.
            qmv -enedit -owidth=100

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <oskar@osk.mine.nu>.

AUTHOR

       The author of renameutils and this manual page is Oskar Liljeblad <oskar@osk.mine.nu>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011 Oskar Liljeblad

       This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO  warranty;  not
       even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.