unf

UNixize Filename -- replace annoying anti-unix characters in filenames

About

Certain characters in filenames are problematic for command-line users. For example, spaces and parentheses are treated specially by the shell. unf renames these files, so you no longer have to be annoyed when your Windows-using friend sends you an irritatingly-named zip file.

Installing

Using cargo

cargo install unf

This installs to ~/.cargo/bin, so make sure that's in your PATH.

Arch Linux

Install unf from the AUR.

Usage

unf [FLAGS] <PATH>...

<PATH>...: The paths of filenames to unixize

-r --recursive: Recursively unixize filenames in directories. If some of the specified paths are directories, unf will operate recursively on their contents

-f --force Do not interactively prompt to rename each file

Examples

$ unf 🤔😀😃😄😁😆😅emojis.txt
rename '🤔😀😃😄😁😆😅emojis.txt' -> 'thinking_grinning_smiley_smile_grin_laughing_sweat_smile_emojis.txt'? (y/N): y

$ unf -f 'Game (Not Pirated 😉).rar'
rename 'Game (Not Pirated 😉).rar' -> 'Game_Not_Pirated_wink.rar'

Recursion

$ unf -rf My\ Files/ My\ Folder
rename 'My Files/Passwords :) .txt' -> 'My Files/Passwords.txt'
rename 'My Files/Another Cool Photo.JPG' -> 'My Files/Another_Cool_Photo.JPG'
rename 'My Files/Wow Cool Photo.JPG' -> 'My Files/Wow_Cool_Photo.JPG'
rename 'My Files/Cool Photo.JPG' -> 'My Files/Cool_Photo.JPG'
rename 'My Files/' -> 'My_Files'
rename 'My Folder' -> 'My_Folder'

Collisions

$ unf -f -- --fake-flag.txt fake-flag.txt ------fake-flag.txt ' fake-flag.txt' $'\tfake-flag.txt'
rename '--fake-flag.txt' -> 'fake-flag_000.txt'
rename '------fake-flag.txt' -> 'fake-flag_001.txt'
rename ' fake-flag.txt' -> 'fake-flag_002.txt'
rename '	fake-flag.txt' -> 'fake-flag_003.txt'

FAQ

Is this useful?

Hopefully for some people. There are certain situations in which I believe this tool is useful.

• Downloading files uploaded by non-CLI users, especially large archives with poorly-named files
• The (1) that gets appended to web browser download duplicates
• Unix tools which take advantage of the loose Unix filename restrictions (like youtube-dl, which creates filenames from the video title)

How does this handle collisions?

Since unf is an automatic batch rename tool, there may be cases where the path to the unixized filename already exists. unf resolves this crisis by appending and incrementing a zero-padded number to the end of the file stem. An example of this is displayed here.

Why is the collision-resolving number zero-padded?

It has the nice property of being ordered when using tools that sort filenames by ASCII values, such as ls and shell completion.

Why not just use shell completion to access problematic filenames?

Shell completion can automatically insert backslash escapes, but this is sub-optimal. The backslash escapes make the filenames substantially less readable. However, shell completion is great for invoking unf.