Rename To Preserve Extension

[smhmd]

rename: README.md│ should instead be rename: README│.md as keeping the extension is a more common use case.

The recommended way in the wiki removes the extension (and leaves the dot) and forces you to have multiple keybindings for files, files without extensions and directories.

[lucas-mior]

very ugly solution (map it to A or whatever you like)

cmd renameappend ${{
filename="${f%.*}"
nome="$(basename "$filename")"
lf -remote "send $id :rename; cmd-home"
chars="$(echo $nome | wc -m)"
n=1
while [[ $n -lt $chars ]]
do
lf -remote "send $id cmd-right"
n=$((n+1))
done
}}

[roket1428]

My solution:

cmd rename-before-ext &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		if [ -d "$f" ]; then
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
		else
			ext_len="$(echo ${f##*.} | wc -m)"
			for i in $(seq "$ext_len"); do
				pos="${pos}<left>"
			done
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
			lf -remote "send $id push "$pos""
		fi
	fi
}}

[Limero]

I agree that keeping the extension is the most common when renaming. Should we make this the default behavior? Should there be an option to toggle it? Would be nice to not have to use custom commands.

[smhmd]

@Limero I think it should be the default. If you wanna change the entire name you would ctrl+u.

[roket1428]

I agree that keeping the extension is the most common when renaming. Should we make this the default behavior? Should there be an option to toggle it? Would be nice to not have to use custom commands.

I think there gotta be at least 4 default naming function: One for renaming it entirely (like just let me change its name to this new value), one for appending (at the very end of the file/directory), one for inserting (at the very beginning of the file/directory), one for appending before the extension of the file (default behavior for directories should be same as appending IMHO).

Here is my lfrc for those (yes, I use hard tabs and I don't care what you think):

# insert
cmd rename-insert &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		len="$(basename "$f" | wc -m)" # length of selected file/directory
		for i in $(seq "$len"); do
			pos="${pos}<left>" # how many times do I have to press <left> in order to get first char
		done
		lf -remote "send $id rename"
		lf -remote "send $id push $pos"
	fi
}}

# append before ext
cmd rename-before-ext &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		if [ -d "$f" ]; then
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
		else
			ext_len="$(echo ${f##*.} | wc -m)" # extention length
			for i in $(seq "$ext_len"); do
				pos="${pos}<left>"
			done
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
			lf -remote "send $id push "$pos""
		fi
	fi
}}

# change its name entirely
cmd rename-new &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		lf -remote "send $id rename"
		lf -remote "send $id push <c-u>"
	fi
}}

map cc rename-new # new name
map I rename-insert # at the very begging
map A rename # at the very end
map aa rename-before-ext # right before the extention

[gokcehan]

Thank you all for the feedback. For the record, this is why I try not to include commands as builtin because everyone has some slightly different favorite and expects it to be the default. The current default seems to be the simpler one rather than the common one. You should be able to define other versions of rename commands using either push command:

map R push r<a-b><c-b>

Or by using command line commands:

map R :rename; cmd-word-back; cmd-left

Examples in the wiki page dates back to times we did not have a builtin rename command. Perhaps it is time to remove those examples in favor of these.

[smhmd]

I really think sane, great defaults are better than having two commands for renaming.

EDIT: you might as well throw bulk renaming when multiple files are selected in there. and have these defaults in /usr/local/etc/lf/lfrc for easy copy, edit.

In this case, someone is going to realize some command could be better written, and we're all going to benefit. It feels like lf consciously wants people to have custom commands for everything.

[roket1428]

I agree that keeping the extension is the most common when renaming. Should we make this the default behavior? Should there be an option to toggle it? Would be nice to not have to use custom commands.

I think there gotta be at least 4 default naming function: One for renaming it entirely (like just let me change its name to this new value), one for appending (at the very end of the file/directory), one for inserting (at the very beginning of the file/directory), one for appending before the extension of the file (default behavior for directories should be same as appending IMHO).

Here is my lfrc for those (yes, I use hard tabs and I don't care what you think):

# insert
cmd rename-insert &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		len="$(basename "$f" | wc -m)" # length of selected file/directory
		for i in $(seq "$len"); do
			pos="${pos}<left>" # how many times do I have to press <left> in order to get first char
		done
		lf -remote "send $id rename"
		lf -remote "send $id push $pos"
	fi
}}

# append before ext
cmd rename-before-ext &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		if [ -d "$f" ]; then
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
		else
			ext_len="$(echo ${f##*.} | wc -m)" # extention length
			for i in $(seq "$ext_len"); do
				pos="${pos}<left>"
			done
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
			lf -remote "send $id push "$pos""
		fi
	fi
}}

# change its name entirely
cmd rename-new &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		lf -remote "send $id rename"
		lf -remote "send $id push <c-u>"
	fi
}}

map cc rename-new # new name
map I rename-insert # at the very begging
map A rename # at the very end
map aa rename-before-ext # right before the extention

After tweaking a bit, I realized that I can shorten it to this:

map cc push A<c-u> # new rename
map I push A<c-a> # at the very beginning
map A rename # at the very end
map i push A<a-b><a-b><a-f> # before extention
map a push A<a-b> # after extention

[doronbehar]

Hey all :) I'm the one who wrote that section at the wiki and I've just stumbled upon this discussion. Just wanted to let you know I've edited that wiki section with a link to this issue and I've made the commands handle filenames with quotes and possibly other characters better, using a printf '%q'.

You might also be interested in #306 .

[roket1428]

I agree that keeping the extension is the most common when renaming. Should we make this the default behavior? Should there be an option to toggle it? Would be nice to not have to use custom commands.

I think there gotta be at least 4 default naming function: One for renaming it entirely (like just let me change its name to this new value), one for appending (at the very end of the file/directory), one for inserting (at the very beginning of the file/directory), one for appending before the extension of the file (default behavior for directories should be same as appending IMHO).
Here is my lfrc for those (yes, I use hard tabs and I don't care what you think):

# insert
cmd rename-insert &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		len="$(basename "$f" | wc -m)" # length of selected file/directory
		for i in $(seq "$len"); do
			pos="${pos}<left>" # how many times do I have to press <left> in order to get first char
		done
		lf -remote "send $id rename"
		lf -remote "send $id push $pos"
	fi
}}

# append before ext
cmd rename-before-ext &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		if [ -d "$f" ]; then
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
		else
			ext_len="$(echo ${f##*.} | wc -m)" # extention length
			for i in $(seq "$ext_len"); do
				pos="${pos}<left>"
			done
			lf -remote "send $id rename"
			lf -remote "send $id push "$pos""
		fi
	fi
}}

# change its name entirely
cmd rename-new &{{
	if [ "$(echo "$fx" | wc -l)" -gt 1 ]; then
		lf -remote "send $id echo You can't change more than one file name"
		lf -remote "send $id unselect"
	else
		lf -remote "send $id rename"
		lf -remote "send $id push <c-u>"
	fi
}}

map cc rename-new # new name
map I rename-insert # at the very begging
map A rename # at the very end
map aa rename-before-ext # right before the extention

After tweaking a bit, I realized that I can shorten it to this:

map cc push A<c-u> # new rename
map I push A<c-a> # at the very beginning
map A rename # at the very end
map i push A<a-b><a-b><a-f> # before extention
map a push A<a-b> # after extention

Okay, this is last, I promise. :)

I realized that "before extension" keybinding has one bug. Right now, it goes to the very end of filename thanks to default rename function then goes back one word, and then goes one word back again. After that, it goes forward by one word.

This goes right before the . in a filename format like this <alphanumeric file name>.<ext> but if the file name contains something like " right before the ., it just goes right before the ". So, it needs a fix and that is map i push A<a-b><c-b>.

This first goes to the very end of filename, and goes one word back (right after the .), and then, goes back one character which is the .. So, you'll end up right before the ..

Thanks to @doronbehar to help me realize it. :)

Anyways, have a nice day. :)

[doronbehar]

Answering your comment #306 (comment) which to my view relates to the discussion here more then there.

And while you are writing functions/scripts to lf, prefer POSIX shell scripting as not everyone uses bash as default shell.

Totally agree with you, but replacing printf '%q' with a posix shell equivalent seems like too much effort for an edge case, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/29824428/4935114 . I've added a note to the wiki indicating this was tested with zsh.

[gokcehan]

I think the best argument in favor of this is that it is easier to define the other behaviors when the default is keeping the extension since there could be files with no extension or multiple extensions. If anyone wants to implement this, I'm now willing to accept a PR. The function filepath.Ext can be used for this purpose which seems to have a proper extension definition.