How to Rename Multiple Files in a Directory with a Specific Prefix in Python

Renaming Multiple Files in a Directory with Python

When faced with the task of renaming files in a directory, Python offers a convenient solution. However, navigating the intricacies of file renaming can be challenging, especially when dealing with specific pattern matching.

To address this, let's consider a scenario where we need to remove the prefix "CHEESE_" from filenames like "CHEESE_CHEESE_TYPE." While the os.path.split function may seem promising, it may not yield the desired results in this case.

Alternatively, we can harness the os.rename(src, dst) function, which allows us to rename or move a file or directory. This function takes two parameters: the source filename (src) and the destination filename (dst).

To achieve our goal, we can loop through the list of files in the current directory using os.listdir("."). For each filename, we check if it starts with "cheese_". If it does, we use os.rename to rename it by slicing off the first seven characters (cheese_). This process effectively removes the prefix, resulting in the desired filename format.

Here's a Python script that demonstrates this solution:

<code class="python">import os

# Get a list of files in the current directory
files = os.listdir(".")

# Loop through the files
for filename in files:
    # Check if the filename starts with "cheese_"
    if filename.startswith("cheese_"):
        # Rename the file by removing the first seven characters
        os.rename(filename, filename[7:])</code>

This script will iterate through the files in the current directory and rename any files that begin with "CHEESE_," leaving us with clean filenames without the unwanted prefix.

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