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Semi-Automated file naming

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Armando:
Hello to all,

I’m trying to use a specific naming protocol for all my documents, but... I often fail to apply it consistently and properly when I'm in hurry or just working on too many things at the same time. So I'd like to automate it in some ways.

Example : when I save a document, it would offer me different fields, separated by columns dots periods** [sorry... still learning!] or other appropriate punctuation marks : type of document, author, title, date, keywords... And the final name would appear almost like an "MLA" or "Author-Date" formatted reference

Example such a formatted name : "CB-TH-Amado, Carlos Augusto Agon. 1998. OpenMusic.doc"
(in my example "CB-TH-" means "complete book" and "Thesis"; "Amado, Carlos Augusto Agon" is of course the author; 1998 is the date; and "Open Music" is the title.)

There might be ways to do that, or there might be an "Open/Save Dialog Box Extenders" software which could do that... I don't know...

Any ideas?

Thanks

** Not a good idea, it seems. Please see https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=8820.0

Hirudin:
A couple ideas:
You can use a form filler, like KeePass. Make a bunch of entries for the Save dialog window that you can use like templates. Make a new entry for each different type you want to have and name them accordingly.
"Complete Book Thesis" could auto-type: "CB-Th-Auth Name. Date. Doc-name"
"Partial Book Editorial" could auto-type: "PB-Ed-Auth Name. Date. Doc-name"
etc.
Then after it auto fills the template format you could manually go in and change the author's name, date, and whatnot.

You may also be able to make an AutoHotkey Auto-Replace script that would fill in the formatting for you. (I suppose this could save some time, but it seems that in the end you wouldn't save many keystrokes.) This would be better if you actually wanted to type "CB" but have the phrase "Complete Book" be transcribed.

justice:
Would be good for an coding snack!
Basically an interface that renames files based on the data in the summary tab and a user defined scheme of how to translate the metadata to a filename (first letter of each word).

A bit like Tag&Rename (this is a program to rename mp3s based on IDtags).

mouser:
i think a good solution to this would be not to focus on the save dialog, but instead think about a generic tool that can pop up with a hotkey and let you fill out a little form with checkboxes or fields, whatever, and then create some text matching a template you design, and copy it to clipboard or paste it in your active program.  then you could use it for save dialog or when renaming, or whatever.

You could use my "Form Letter Machine" program for something like this, though i hardly think it's ideal.  A dedicated program for this might be best.

Armando:
@hirudin :
- Very good idea to use KeePass.
- Just installed it and the autocomplete feature is flexible enough to allow many different uses. It does pretty much what I want (well, allmost!) : providing a list of templates depending on the type of document I want to save.
- "Retyping" over the already "written" fields is not terribly sexy, but it's not a big problem. I guess that would be an aspect that could eventually be improved in a dedicated app.

The AHK suggestion -- I tried something similar a couple months ago -- would be a bit more complex to achieve... Well, for me, shall I add. That's why I really like your KeePass solution. But for a coder, AHK might just be the way to go...

@justice :
Yes, a good idea for a coding snack. Although KeePass works pretty well already, even if not it's not quite perfect...

@mouser :

i think a good solution to this would be not to focus on the save dialog, but instead think about a generic tool that can pop up with a hotkey and let you fill out a little form with checkboxes or fields, whatever, and then create some text matching a template you design, and copy it to clipboard or paste it in your active program.  then you could use it for save dialog or when renaming, or whatever.

You could use my "Form Letter Machine" program for something like this, though i hardly think it's ideal.  A dedicated program for this might be best.
--- End quote ---


YES... I understand a bit better what you meant in the my other "related" thread...

I totally agree with you. It should be one solution that doesn't focus on the "save as" dialog.

Actually, what I've started to do (in my explorations) is creating different entries in KeePass that appear when I use the pre-configured "ctr+alt+a" hotkey:

* some are for file name templates (the templates will only appear when a "save as" dialog is open)
* some are for tags and only appear when I use specific applications, etc.
It works pretty well. But I can forsee problems:


* "mass editing" entries (like "mass editing" the KeePass's note field) would be a bit cumbersome if not really ennoying.

* having 100s of different tags might be hard to manage (to say the least) with the little "Auto-Type Entry Selection" window.
I'll see if I still like it in a few days.
If not, I’ll look at your “Form Letter Machine” :)

In the long term, I guess some specific AHK script would probably be more adapted anyways.

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