Naming Template Dialog

Use the Naming Template dialog to set the way your converted files are named. By default M²Convert Pro uses the source file name to build the target file name. Use this dialog to customize target file names. The Naming Template dialog appears when you have two or more similar items selected in the Tasks List, and you right-click the items (or press the Context menu key) and select the Batch Rename item on the Tasks List Context Menu.

The dialog is based on the concept of tags, where each tag represents a set of options to apply to the file name. The tag name represents the form of data it applies to the target file names. Target file names are constructed in the same order as the tags. The following is a list of available tags and their meanings:

<NUM>

The target file name will contain a numeric counter, where the counter location, size, and behavior are dependent on the tag location and settings.

<ALPHA>

The target file name will contain an alphabetical counter, where the counter location, size, and behavior are dependent on the tag location and settings.

The target file name will contain a counter of mixed alphabetical and numeric symbols, where the counter location, size, and behavior are dependent on the tag location and settings.

<DATE>

The target file name will contain the date when the naming template is applied, where the date format, and location are dependent on the tag location and settings.

<TIME>

The target file name will contain the time when the naming template is applied, where the time format and location are dependent on the tag location and settings.

<SRC>

The target file name will contain the source file name, where the location and the character’s upper and lower cases are dependent on the tag location and settings.

The Naming Template Dialog always shows a sample of the file names in the Sample list.

Note that you can apply the same tag more than once to the target file name. Also, you can insert any characters that don’t match any tag in the target file names.

To display the Naming Template dialog, select two or more items in the Tasks List and right-click the items (or press the Context menu key), and select the Batch Rename item on the Tasks List Context Menu.

$image\DialogNamingTemplate.gif$

The following fields are on the Naming Template dialog:

Template Group

Template Edit/List box

Use the Template edit box/list box to set the naming convention to be used for target file names. Enter the template you want to use in the Template editable options list. This list remembers up to the last 10 values.

Template List box

Beside the Template editable options list you can find a drop menu list that lists the tags that are available. The following are the available tags:

$image\sqrblit.gif$ <NUM>

$image\sqrblit.gif$ <ALPHA>

$image\sqrblit.gif$ <ALPHANUM>

$image\sqrblit.gif$ <DATE>

$image\sqrblit.gif$ <TIME>

$image\sqrblit.gif$ <SRC>

Tags Options Group

Use the Tags Options group to set the behavior of each supported tag in the Naming Template Dialog. The options available differ according to the tag selected in the Tag drop-down list.

Tag Drop-down list box

Use the Tag drop-down list box to select the type of tag to be used and the attributes to be changed.

Settings Group

Use the Settings group to set the attributes for the tag currently selected in the Tag drop-down list. The contents of this group depend upon the tag selected. Notice that wherever the tag appears in the Template it will be replaced using the settings selected in the Settings group.

Below is a list of each tag and its corresponding attributes:

<NUM>

Mask Group

Use the Mask group to select the number of digits to use and whether to use a mask for the counter. To use a mask, select the check box by the group label. By default no mask will be used and the counter will use as many digits as available, adding no more characters than what the counter requires. When a mask is used, characters from the mask will be used to fill out the file name. The length of the padding mask automatically limits the length of the Starting Position and Increment By values, but you should still be careful not to set these values so that file names could run out of room later on in the sequence (for example, if a mask has only one character, and you have 20 files, then the series will run as follows:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1, 2)

Only characters that match an empty file name character will be displayed: for example, a Padding Mask of "0000" will fill out "1" to "0001".

Digit Count Spin box

Use the Digit Count spin box to set the number of padding characters to be used.

Padding Digits Edit box

Use the Padding Digits edit box to select which characters should be used to fill the mask. The characters available are limited to the number selected with the Digit Count edit box.

Increment By Spin box

Use the "Increment By" spin box to set the jump in the counter value between one target file name and the next. By default the step is 1. Values range from 0 to 1000.

Starting Position Spin box

Use the Starting Position numerical spin box to set the start number for the counter. By default the starting number is 0. Values range from 0 to 1000.

<ALPHA>

Mask Group

Use the Mask group to select whether to use a mask for the counter. To use a mask, select the check box by the group label. By default no mask will be used and the counter will use as many characters as available, adding no more characters than what the counter requires. When a mask is used, characters from the mask will be used to fill out the file name. The length of the padding mask automatically limits the length of the Starting Position and Increment By values, but you should still be careful not to set these values so that file names run out of room later on in the sequence (for example, if the mask has only one character, and you have 30 files, then the series will run as follows:

a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z,a,a,a,a

Only characters that match an empty file name character will be displayed: for example, a Padding Mask of "____" will fill out "BG" to "__BG".

Character Count Spin box

Use the Character Count to set the number of padding characters to be used.

Padding Characters Edit box

Use the Padding Characters edit box to set which characters should be used to fill the mask. The characters in this edit box are limited to the number selected with Character Count Spin box.

Increment By Spin box

Use the Increment By spin box to set the jump in the counter value between one target file name and the next. By default the step is 1, where the step identifies the next character in the alphabet sequence to be used. Values range from 0 to 1000.

Starting Position Spin box

Use the Starting Position edit box to set the numerical position in the alphabet for the start character. By default the starting number is 0. Values range from 0 to 1000.

Alphabetical Range Edit boxes

Use the Alphabetical Range edit boxes to set the start and end characters to be used in the counter. Notice that reversing the character order where the end character is prior to the start character has no effect on the result.

Upper Case Check box

Select the Upper Case check box if you want to use upper case characters.

Mask Group

Use the Mask group to select whether to use a mask for the counter. To use a mask, select the check box by the group label. By default no mask will be used and the counter will use as many characters as available, adding no more characters than what the counter requires. When a mask is used, characters from the mask will be used to fill out the file name. The length of the padding mask automatically limits the length of the Starting Position and Increment By fields. Be careful not to set these values so that file names run out of room later on in the sequence.

Only characters that match an empty file name character will be displayed: for example, a Padding Mask of "____" will fill out "BG" to "__BG".

Character Count Spin box

Use the Character Count to select the number of padding characters to be used.

Padding Characters Edit box

Use the Padding Characters edit box to select which characters the mask should be filled with. The characters available in this edit are limited to the number that was set with the Character Count edit box.

Increment By Spin box

Starting Position Spin box

Use the Starting Position spin box to set the numerical position in the alphabet for the start character. By default the starting number is 0. Values range from 0 to 1000.

Alphabetical Range Edit boxes

Numerical Range Edit boxes

Use the Numerical Range edit boxes to set the start and end numerical digits to be used in the counter. Notice that setting the end digit to be less than the start digit has no effect on the result.

Upper Case Check box

Select the Upper Case check box if you want to use upper case characters.

<DATE>

Type Drop-down list box

Use the Type drop-down list box to define the Date format to be used. Possible values are:

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Long. Use full names for the day and month names.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Short. Use abbreviated day and month names.

<TIME>

Type Drop-down list box:

Use the Type drop-down list box to define the Time format to be used. Possible values are:

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Long 24. Display the time in terms of 24 hours and include seconds.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Short 24. Display the time in terms of 24 hours, and do not include seconds.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Long 12. Display the time in terms of 12 hours, and include seconds.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Short 12. Display the time in terms of 12 hours, and do not include seconds.

<SRC>

Case Drop-down List box

Use the Case Drop-down list box to set the character’s case in the Target file name. Possible values are:

$image\sqrblit.gif$ Keep as is. The target file name will use the source file name as it is in terms of upper or lower case letters.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ UPPER. The target file name will use the source file name but use upper case letters.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ lower. The target file name will use the source file name but use lower case letters.

$image\sqrblit.gif$ tOGGLE. The target file name will invert the case of every character in the source file name.

Sample List box

Use the Sample list box to view the result of both setting the template using the Template edit\list box, and setting the attributes for the corresponding inserted tags using the Settings group.

OK Button

Select the OK button to close the dialog and apply changes.

Cancel Button

Select the Cancel button to close the dialog and discard changes.

Help Button

Select the Help button to open a popup help topic for this dialog.