Smart Rename Template Language for PowerRename

[RTMDIYguy]

Description of the new feature / enhancement

Summary Introduce a flexible template language for PowerRename using intuitive tokens such as $FOLDER, $NUM, and $EXT to enable dynamic, context-aware batch renaming. This would allow users to create powerful and reusable rename patterns—all within a single pass.
🖼 Mock-Up UI Concept
• Search Pattern: SampleFile_.*
• Replace Pattern: $FOLDER_$NUM:2$EXT
Preview Panel Example: SampleFile_scenetwo.mov → ProjectClips_01.mov
✅ Option: Reset Counter per Folder ✅ Option: Include Subfolders

Visual Preview included below: Proposed PowerRename UI with token-based rename and dynamic preview.

Scenario when this would be used?

This feature would be useful when renaming media files with variable length name strings across multiple folders with a consistent pattern, such as folder name + counter + extension. It simplifies workflows for content creators, editors, or anyone managing organized assets across structured directories.
✅ Why It Matters
• Efficiency: Eliminates the need for manual or repetitive renaming scripts.
• Clarity: Tokens make complex renaming rules easy to understand and reuse.
• User Empowerment: Puts more control in the hands of non-technical users without sacrificing flexibility.

Supporting information

Here’s a PowerShell-style prototype demonstrating the idea:

$folders = Get-ChildItem "C:\Videos" -Directory

foreach ($folder in $folders) {
    $files = Get-ChildItem $folder.FullName -Filter "SampleFile_*" | Sort-Object Name
    $counter = 1

    foreach ($file in $files) {
        $ext = $file.Extension
        $newName = "{0}_{1:D2}{2}" -f $folder.Name, $counter, $ext
        Rename-Item $file.FullName -NewName $newName
        $counter++
    }
}

[daverayment]

I can see the benefit here. Some initial feedback on your proposal:

• The new $EXT term isn't needed. You can change the 'Apply to' drop-down value to Filename only to exclude the extension from the rename operation - there's no need to append it to the end.
• There is an existing counter replacement term: ${}. It may be preferable to extend its functionality rather than to introduce a new $NUM term.

The following requests would be extra, if we take the above into account:

• A new $FOLDER replacement term, which expands to the name of the parent folder.
• A new 'Reset counter for each folder' option, which would reset the ${} counter on a per-folder basis.

Playing Devil's Advocate here: including the folder name would seem to be only required if the user wanted to 'flatten' an entire folder tree into a single target folder. If this is right, is this a common operation, e.g. for backup or archiving? And for those who want to do this flattening step, that would seem to require a custom script anyway, where the user could customise the filename to include the folder name easily. I'm not discounting this, but would like to understand more.

I can see the advantage of the counter reset option for cases where a user is renaming files across multiple folders. I think the consideration there is about:

• What the default should be. It may be more user-friendly to have a per-folder counter by default, but that would be a change to the current behaviour.
• Where this fits in the UI. It's only relevant if someone toggles 'Include subfolders', so how is that best expressed? A nested toggle?

The potential for confusion in the UI would lead me to suspect that having separate global and per-folder counter replacement terms would be a better option. This would also mean that the user could include both in their target filename. What do you think?