From: dblack@...
Date: 2006-07-10T00:16:38+09:00
Subject: Re: renaming files randomly

Hi --

On Mon, 10 Jul 2006, Bil Kleb wrote:

> Got this request yesterday and still haven't had
> time to decipher it and code it -- I figured I'd
> throw it out here and see what you folks come up with:
>
> Eric wrote:
>>
>> I want to change the names of several hundred files to random numbers
>> (without overwriting any files).  I have a bunch of pictures for our
>> reception, but they're basically in chronological order by their current
>> filenames.  But I want the slideshow to play in random order, so I need to
>> randomize the filenames.
>
> I'll also ask why the slideshow software can't just be
> told to show things randomly...

Dir["photos/*"].sort_by { rand }

If the renaming is really necessary, then something like:

   Dir.chdir("photos") do
     files = Dir["*"]
     new_names = [*0...files.size].sort_by { rand }
     files.zip(new_names).each do |f,n|
       File.rename(f, n.to_s)
     end
   end

They may not get shown in numerical order, because of how directories
get sorted, but it shouldn't matter because they'll be in random order
anyway.


David

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