EDIR - Rename, Remove, and Copy Files and Directories Using Your Editor

edir is a command line utility to rename, remove, and copy filenames and directories using your text editor. Run it in the current directory and edir will open your editor on a list of files and directories in that directory. Each item in the directory will appear on its own numbered line. These numbers are how edir keeps track of what items are changed. Delete lines to remove files/directories, edit lines to rename files/directories, or duplicate line numbers to copy files/directories. You can also switch pairs of numbers to swap files or directories. If run from within a Git repository, edir will use Git to rename or remove tracked files/directories. You can use a trash program to remove files.

The latest version and documentation is available at https://github.com/bulletmark/edir.

Advantages Compared to Vidir

edir unashamedly mimics the functionality of the vidir utility from moreutils but aims to improve it in the following ways:

1. edir automatically uses git mv instead of mv and git rm instead of rm for tracked files when invoked within a Git repository. There is also a -G/--no-git option to suppress this default action. See the description in the section below about git options.

2. vidir presents file and directories equivalently but edir adds a trailing slash / to visually discriminate directories. E.g. if afile and bfile are files, adir and bdir are directories, then vidir presents these in your editor as follows.

   1	./a
   2	./b
   3	./c
   4	./d
   

   But edir presents these as:

   1	./a
   2	./b
   3	./c/
   4	./d/
   

   Note the trailing slash is only for presentation in your editor. You are not required to ensure it is present after editing. E.g. editing line 3 above to ./e (or even just to e) would still rename the directory c to e.

   Note also, that both edir and vidir show the leading ./ on each entry so that any leading spaces on the filename are clearly seen, and can be edited.

3. edir adds the ability to copy files or directories one or more times when you duplicate a numbered line (after the original). vidir does not have copy functionality.

4. edir allows you to remove a file/directory by deleting the line, as vidir does, but you can also remove it by pre-pending a # to "comment it out" or by substituting an entirely blank line.

5. By default, edir prints remove, rename, and copy messages whereas vidir prints messages only when the -v/--verbose switch is added. You can add -q/--quiet to edir to suppress these messages.

6. edir outputs messages in color. Remove messages are red, rename messages are yellow, and copy messages are green. You can choose to disable colored output.

7. When vidir is run with the -v/--verbose switch then it reports the renaming of original to intermediate temporary to final files if files are swapped etc. That is rather an implementation detail so edir only reports the original to final renames which is all the user really cares about.

8. To remove a large recursive tree you must pipe the directory tree to vidir and then explicitly remove all children files and directories before deleting a parent directory. You can do this also in edir of course (and arguably it is probably the safest approach) but there are times when you really want to let edir remove recursively so edir adds a -r/--recurse switch to allow this. BE CAREFUL USING THIS!

9. vidir always shows all files and directories in a directory, including hidden files and directories (i.e. those starting with a .). Usually a user does not want to be bothered with these so edir by default does not show them. They can be included by adding the -a/--all switch.

10. edir does not require the user to specify the - if something has been piped to standard input. E.g. you need only type find | edir as opposed to find | edir -. Note that vidir requires the second form.

11. edir adds a -i/--interactive option to show pending changes and prompt the user before actioning them. You can also choose to re-edit the changes.

12. edir adds a -F/--files option to only show files, or -D/--dirs to only show directories.

13. edir adds a -L/--nolinks option to ignore symbolic links.

14. edir adds a -d/--depth option to edit to the specified directory depth. The default is 1 so edir a (if a is a directory) will edit names to a/*, edir -d2 a will edit names to a/*/*, etc. edir -d0 a will just edit the a name directly. Can specify -1 to edit to all depths (or use a large positive number).

15. edir adds a -t/--trash option to remove to your Trash. By default this option invokes trash-put from the trash-cli package to do deletions but you can specify any alternative trash program, see section below.

16. edir adds -N/--sort-name, -M/--sort-time, -S/--sort-size options to sort the paths when listed in your editor. There is also a -E/--sort-reverse option to reverse the order.

17. edir adds -X/--group-dirs-first and -Y/--group-dirs-last options to display directories grouped together, either first or last. These can be combined with the above sorting options.

18. edir shows a message "No files or directories" if there is nothing to edit, rather than opening an empty file as vidir does.

19. edir filters out any duplicate paths you may inadvertently specify on it's command line.

20. edir always invokes a consistent duplicate renaming scheme. E.g. if you rename b, c, d all to the same pre-existing name a then edir will rename b to a~, c to a~1, d to a~2. Depending on order of operations, vidir is not always consistent about this, E.g. sometimes it creates a a~1 with no a~ (this may be a bug in vidir that nobody has ever bothered to report/address?).

21. edir creates the temporary editing file with a .sh suffix so your EDITOR may syntax highlight the entries. Optionally, you can change this default suffix.

22. edir provides an optional environment value to add custom options to the invocation of your editor. See section below.

23. edir provides an optional configuration file to set default edir command line options. See section below.

24. Contrary to what it's name implies, vidir actually respects your $EDITOR variable and runs your preferred editor like edir does but edir has been given a generic name to make this more apparent. If $EDITOR is not set then edir uses a default editor appropriate to your system.

25. vidir returns status code 0 if all files successful, or 1 if any error. edir returns 0 if all files successful, 1 if some had error, or 2 if all had error.

26. vidir returns an error when attempting to rename across different file systems, which edir allows.

27. edir always ensures editor line numbers have the same width (e.g. 1 to 6 for 6 files, or 01 to 12 for 12 files, etc) so that file names always line up justified. This facilitates block editing of file names, e.g. using vim's visual block mode. vidir doesn't do this so file names can be jagged wrt each other which makes block editing awkward.

28. edir is very strict about the format of the lines you edit and immediately exits with an error message (before changing anything) if you format one of the lines incorrectly. All lines in the edited list:

    1. Must start with a number and that number must be in range.
    2. Must have at least one white space/tab after the number,
    3. Must have a remaining valid path name.
    4. Can start with a # or be completely blank to be considered the same as deleted.

    Note the final edited order of lines does not matter, only the first number value is used to match the newly edited line to the original line so an easy way to swap two file names is just to swap their numbers.

29. edir always actions files consistently. The sequence of operations applied is:

    1. Deleted files are removed and all renamed files and directories are renamed to temporaries. The temporaries are made on the same file-system as the target.

    2. Empty deleted directories are removed.

    3. Renamed temporary files and directories are renamed to their target name. Any required copies are created.

    4. Remaining deleted directories are removed.

    In simple terms, remember that files are processed before directories so you can rename files into a different directory and then delete the original directory, all in one edit. However in practice it is far less confusing and less risky if you perform complicated renames and moves in distinct steps.

Renames and Deletes in a GIT Repository

When working within a Git repository, you nearly always want to use git mv instead of mv and git rm instead of rm for files and directories so edir recognises this and does it automatically. Note that only tracked files/dirs are moved or renamed using Git. Untracked files/dirs within the repository are removed or renamed in the normal way.

If for some reason you don't want automatic git action then you can use the -G/--no-git option temporarily, or set it a default option. See the section below on how to set default options. If you set --no-git as the default, then you can use -g/-git on the command line to turn that default option off temporarily and re-enable git functionality.

Using Trash

Given how easy edir facilitates deleting files, some users may prefer to remove them to system Trash from where they can be later listed and/or recovered. Specifying -t/--trash does this by executing the trash-put command, from the trash-cli package, to remove files rather than removing them natively.

You may want to set -t/--trash as a default option. If you do so then you can use -T on the command line to turn that default option off temporarily.

You can specify an alternative trash program, e.g. trash-d, or gio trash, or gtrash put, by setting the --trash-program option. Most likely you want to set this as a default option.

Previewing Changes

Many users would like to see a preview of changes after they finish editing but before they are actioned by edir, i.e. to confirm exactly which files/dirs will be deleted, renamed, or copied. Add the -i/--interactive option and edir will present a list of changes and prompt you to continue, or allow you to re-edit the path list etc. Consider setting --interactive as a default option so you are always prompted.

After a preview of pending changes is shown a prompt is presented for the user to enter a single key:

(P)roceed/(Y)es, (E)dit, (R)estart, (Q)uit[default]: [p|y|e|r|q]?

where:

Option	Key	Action
Proceed/Yes	p or y	Proceed with the path changes.
Edit	e	Edit the path list again, as it is was last edited.
Restart	r	Restart editing the path list again, as it originally began.
Quit	q	Quit immediately without making any changes. This is the default if no key is entered.

Installation or Upgrade

Python 3.8 or later is required. Arch Linux users can install edir from the AUR and skip this section.

The easiest way to install edir is to use pipx (or pipxu, or uv tool) which installs edir from PyPi. To install:

$ pipx install edir

To upgrade:

$ pipx upgrade edir

Git must be installed if you want to use the git options. A trash program such as trash-cli package is required if you want -t/--trash functionality.

EDIR_EDITOR Environment Variable

edir selects your editor from the first environment value found of: $EDIR_EDITOR or $EDITOR, then guesses a fallback default editor appropriate to your system if neither of these are set.

You can also set EDIR_EDITOR explicitly to an editor + arguments string if you want edir to call your editor with specific arguments.

Command Default Options

You can add default options to a personal configuration file ~/.config/edir-flags.conf. If that file exists then each line of options will be concatenated and automatically prepended to your edir command line arguments. Comments in the file (i.e. starting with a #) are ignored. Type edir -h to see all supported options.

The options --interactive, --all, --recurse, --quiet, --no-git, --trash, --suffix, --no-color, --no-invert-color, --group-dirs-first/last, --trash-program are sensible candidates to consider setting as default. If you set these then "on-the-fly" negation options -I, -A, -R, -Q, -g, -T, -Z are also provided to temporarily override and disable default options on the command line.

Examples

Rename and/or remove any files and directories in the current directory:

$ edir

Rename and/or remove any jpeg files in current dir:

$ edir *.jpg

Rename and/or remove any files under current directory and subdirectories:

$ find | edir -F

Use fd to view and git mv/rm repository files only, in the current directory only:

$ fd -d1 -tf | edir -g

Command Line Options

Type edir -h to view the usage summary:

usage: edir [-h] [-i] [-I] [-a] [-A] [-r] [-R] [-q] [-Q] [-G] [-g] [-t]
               [-T] [--trash-program TRASH_PROGRAM] [-c] [-C] [-d DEPTH]
               [-F | -D] [-L] [-N] [-M] [-S] [-E] [-X] [-Y] [-Z]
               [--suffix SUFFIX] [-V]
               [args ...]

Program to rename, remove, or copy files and directories using your editor.
Will use git to action the rename and remove if run within a git repository.

positional arguments:
  args                  file|dir, or "-" for stdin

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -i, --interactive     prompt with summary of changes and allow re-edit
                        before proceeding
  -I, --no-interactive  negate the -i/--interactive option
  -a, --all             include all (including hidden) files
  -A, --no-all          negate the -a/--all option
  -r, --recurse         recursively remove any files and directories in
                        removed directories
  -R, --no-recurse      negate the -r/--recurse option
  -q, --quiet           do not print successful rename/remove/copy actions
  -Q, --no-quiet        negate the -q/--quiet option
  -G, --no-git          do not use git if invoked within a git repository
  -g, --git             negate the --no-git option and DO use automatic git
  -t, --trash           use trash program to do deletions
  -T, --no-trash        negate the -t/--trash option
  --trash-program TRASH_PROGRAM
                        trash program to use, default="trash-put"
  -c, --no-color        do not color rename/remove/copy messages
  -C, --no-invert-color
                        do not invert the color to highlight error messages
  -d DEPTH, --depth DEPTH
                        edit paths to specified depth, default=1
  -F, --files           only show/edit files
  -D, --dirs            only show/edit directories
  -L, --nolinks         ignore all symlinks
  -N, --sort-name       sort paths in file by name, alphabetically
  -M, --sort-time       sort paths in file by time, oldest first
  -S, --sort-size       sort paths in file by size, smallest first
  -E, --sort-reverse    sort paths (by name/time/size) in reverse
  -X, --group-dirs-first
                        group directories first (including when sorted)
  -Y, --group-dirs-last
                        group directories last (including when sorted)
  -Z, --no-group-dirs   negate the options to group directories
  --suffix SUFFIX       specify suffix for temp editor file, default=".sh"
  -V, --version         show edir version

Note you can set default starting options in $HOME/.config/edir-
flags.conf. The negation options (i.e. the --no-* options and their
shortforms) allow you to temporarily override your defaults.

Embed in Ranger File Manager

In many ways edir (and vidir) is better than the ranger terminal file manager bulkrename command which does not handle name swaps and clashes etc. To add edir as a command within ranger, add or create the following in ~/.config/ranger/commands.py. Then run it from within ranger by typing :edir.

from ranger.api.commands import Command

class edir(Command):
    '''
    :edir [file|dir]

    Run edir on the selected file or dir.
    Default argument is current dir.
    '''
    def execute(self):
        self.fm.run('edir -q ' + self.rest(1))
    def tab(self, tabnum):
        return self._tab_directory_content()

Note if you use yazi for your file manager you don't need any special configuration in yazi. Just type :edir.

License

Copyright (C) 2019 Mark Blakeney. This program is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ for more details.