# CSV List Rename

CSV is short for Comma Separated Values. It is a general term for a file containing structured data, much like a database or an Excel spreadsheet. The data is contained in a plain text file with a .csv file extention. Each column in the file is separated by a character, typically a comma, but other characters are used as well. In particular the Tab character is used (sometimes also known as tsv files; Tab Separated Values). Excel, Open Office Calc and most other data managing software can export CSV files.

Flash Rename can load CSV files and rename according to its content. The file should contain two columns; one with the old ("current") filenames and one with the new ("replacement") filenames. Filenames will be matched according to the content in the old column, and if a match is found, renamed to it's counterpart in the new column.

Example

CSV File:

Old | New
Lorem | Some
ipsum | example
dolor | text
sit | I just made
amet | up

Files on disk before:

- dolor.txt
- ipsum.txt
- lorem.txt
- not in list.txt
- sit.txt

Files on disk after:

- text.txt
- example.txt
- Some.txt
- not in list.txt
- I just made.txt

Rules

- The column with current names may contain paths, both full and relative (but only files visible in Flash Renamer are processed). Paths the the column with new names are ignored.

- All standard CSV formatting rules should be supported, except for newlines within data.

- The filenames can contain extensions, but remember to enable "Process Extension" in the Global Options or else the filenames will not be found...

- The filenames in the new column may contain <tags>.

- As you can see in the above example, the order of the names in the CSV file does not matter.

- If the CSV file contains duplicate filenames in the old column, the first one found is used.

- Flash Renamer will read and process all lines in the CSV file, including the first one. The first line in CSV files is often used as a header, but this is usually not a problem since the header would not match any filename anyway.