A short python script to rename a bunch of files

rename_files.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
rename a bunch of files given a glob pattern and change A into B

    rename_files.py -g "**/*.pdf" -a "\\" -b "_" --dry-run
    rename_files.py -g "**/*" -a "\\" -b "_"

 """
import argparse

# construct the argument parse and parse the arguments
ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
ap.add_argument("-g", "--glob-pattern", required='*', help="glob pattern")
ap.add_argument("-a", "--alice", required=True, help="pattern to match")
ap.add_argument("-b", "--bob", required=True, help="pattern to replace")
ap.add_argument("-n", "--dry-run", help="dry run.", action='store_true')

# args = vars(ap.parse_args())
args = ap.parse_args()
print (args)

import shutil

import os, glob, json
for fname in glob.glob(args.glob_pattern):
    if args.alice in fname:
        fname_ = fname.replace(args.alice, args.bob)
        if args.dry_run :
            print(fname, '>>', fname_)
        else:
            shutil.copy(fname, fname_)
            os.remove(fname)