Contents

Batch renaming

The renaming kit (“✏ Renaming kit”) renames many files at once — following a pattern you assemble from building blocks by drag & drop. A live preview shows “Before → After” at all times, so you see the result before you apply it.

7.1 Opening the kit

The kit belongs to the file organiser (chapter 9):

Open the file organiser and choose a category so that its files appear in the detail view.
Tick the files you want to rename. When freshly opened, all are ticked; the select-all checkbox and the Space key narrow that down quickly (chapter 9.2).
Click ✏ Rename — the kit opens with the ticked files.

ℹ️ Only ticked files arrive

The kit takes exactly the ticked files — the same selection that 🗑 Delete works on. If nothing is ticked it does not open, and the status line reports that there are no files.

ℹ️ It also opens by itself

If name clashes occur while merging photo series (chapter 10), SynQaiPro opens the kit automatically with the affected files so that you can assign unique names.

Screenshot 33: The renaming kit — overall view with its four areas: block palette, assembly field, block settings and preview — Fig. 33 — The renaming kit — overall view with its four areas: block palette, assembly field, block settings and preview

7.2 Layout of the window

The window has four areas:

Area	Purpose
Block palette	Stock of available blocks (“Blocks — drag into the field below”)
Assembly field	Your assembled name chain
Block settings	Options of the block currently clicked
Preview	Result per file: Before → After (+ notes)

7.3 Assembling blocks

Drag a block from the palette into the assembly field by drag & drop.
Change the order: drag the block to a new position within the field.
Open the settings: click the block — its options appear on the right.
Remove: right-click the block or use the small ✕.

All on/off switches every block on or off together; Clear field discards the whole chain.

Screenshot 34: Block palette and assembly field with an assembled chain of blocks — Fig. 34 — Block palette and assembly field with an assembled chain of blocks

7.4 The blocks at a glance

Block	Inserts…
Name	the original file name (with case, trimming and exclusion options)
Extension	the file extension
Date	a date in a chosen format from a chosen source
Counter	a sequential number
Topic group	a thematic term from templates (for example Office → “Invoice”)
Separator	a separator between blocks
Free text	any fixed text
Preset	a saved, ready-made chain of blocks (see 7.7)

7.5 Block settings

Depending on the block, different options appear on the right. The most important ones:

Block	Settings
Name	Case (original · UPPERCASE · lowercase · Title Case) · Trim (remove characters from the start/end — by mouse wheel or dragging) · Exclusion (remove certain characters; mode all/front/back)
Date	Format (for example `yyyy-MM-dd`) · Source: modification date, creation date, today or a custom date
Counter	Start, Step, Digits and Leading zeros
Topic group	Group (office, audio, video, images, music, development, archive, e-book, data, design, other) and a matching variant
Separator	the character (presets or custom)
Free text	the text to insert

The File extensions toggle determines whether the extension is included in the renaming. Every setting takes effect in the preview immediately.

Screenshot 35: Block settings on the right (example “Counter” with start/step/digits) and the live preview — Fig. 35 — Block settings on the right (example “Counter” with start/step/digits) and the live preview

7.6 Preview and conflicts

The preview has three columns: Before, After and Note. SynQaiPro marks problematic names clearly:

⚠ Duplicate target name — two files would get the same name
⚠ Target already exists — the target name is taken by a file that stays
⚠ Name empty — no name would be left

ℹ️ Files from several folders

If your selection comes from different folders, two rows with the same file name can easily end up beneath one another — Variante_01.jpg twice, say. Those are two different files, but it looks like a display error. The preview therefore shows the origin: before the first file of each folder there is a folder row of its own with a small yellow folder symbol, the name and the number of files — one step further left than the files below it. If everything comes from a single folder, the list stays quiet; there is nothing to tell apart then. Two folders with the same name from different parent directories are shown with the parent in front (Client1\Raw instead of just Raw).

💡 Whole folders with one click

The tick in the folder row switches all files of that folder on or off at once — handy when only one folder out of a large selection is to be renamed. If only some of the folder’s files are ticked, it shows a bar instead of a check mark; clicking it then selects the whole folder. A click on the folder row next to the tick collapses the folder — the header stays with its name and file count, and the next click brings the files back. This affects the view only: ticks, counter and the renaming itself go on working with all files, including the ones currently hidden. The folder row cannot be moved — it is not a file but is created afresh from the current order on every rebuild. Drag a file onto its own folder row and it lands directly beneath it, that is, at the start of that folder block.

⚠️ The counter knows no folder boundary

It counts once across the entire selection. With two folders of ten images each, the first image of the second folder therefore gets 11, not 1 again — which looks like an error at first glance but is exactly what a continuous counter does. To start at 1 in every folder, rename the folders one after another: select only one folder’s files per pass.

ℹ️ Renumbering is not a conflict

If the occupied target name belongs to a file that is itself renamed in the same pass, SynQaiPro reports nothing — after all, it vacates the spot. This lets the most common case of all go through smoothly: renumbering a series completely. If your files are called _02, _05, _09, _14 and are to become an unbroken _01, _02, _03, _04, then _02 is indeed taken — but by a file that moves on itself. This used to block the whole operation; today it runs through.

The same applies to swapping names (a is to be called b and b is to be called a) and to shifting a series along (a→b, b→c, c→d). SynQaiPro puts the steps into the right order itself and, where needed, parks a file briefly under an intermediate name. You notice nothing of it — and ↺ Undo fully restores such cycles as well.

⚠️ Conflicts block the renaming

While conflicts remain, the status line reports “⚠ N conflicts — resolve before renaming” and the button stays disabled. Once everything is clean it reads, for example, “✓ 12 of 15 files will be renamed”.

Screenshot 36: Preview table (Before / After / Note) with a marked conflict — Fig. 36 — Preview table (Before / After / Note) with a marked conflict

Setting the row order yourself

The preview rows can be picked up and moved with the mouse. A small card with the file name hangs from the pointer — with several rows dragged, also with the count (for example +2) — and a green line shows where the rows will land. Several marked rows travel together; at the top and bottom edge the list scrolls along automatically, so you can drag across longer distances too.

This is not merely cosmetic but a tool in its own right. One simple rule applies:

The names in the After column stay where they are — the files travel through beneath them.

Dragging a row to another place assigns it the name that sits there. This works in two ways:

Blocks	What dragging does
with Counter	The numbers stay fixed in their places — drag a file upwards and it gets the smaller number. That is how you put a series in exactly the order you want without touching the blocks.
only Name	Every proposal is the file’s own name, so there would be nothing to rename. Drag a row here and the files involved swap their names — a move turns into two real renamings.

An example of the second case: the list holds Variante_01 to Variante_04, the Name block proposes the same name for each — the status line reports nothing to do. Now drag Variante_03 to position 2 and you get:

Position	Before	After
1	Variante_01	Variante_01 (unchanged)
2	Variante_03	Variante_02
3	Variante_02	Variante_03
4	Variante_04	Variante_04 (unchanged)

So two files swap their names. That such a thing can be carried out at all is thanks to the cycle resolution from section 7.6 — SynQaiPro briefly parks one file under an intermediate name.

ℹ️ When the assignment lapses

The assignment made by dragging holds as long as you change nothing about the blocks. As soon as you add, remove or move a block, change its settings — or toggle File extensions — the names are generated freshly from the chain again. That is intentional: whoever rebuilds the chain wants to see the new result, not the old state. Ticking, marking rows and further dragging, by contrast, leave the assignment untouched.

💡 Blocks first, then drag

This gives the order of work: first assemble the chain until the preview is basically right — and only then drag the rows into place. The other way round, the assignment would be gone after the next click on a block.

ℹ️ The tick stays clickable

A click on the tick on the far left unticks the row as usual and does not start a drag — so you do not have to be careful about where you grab the row. After a renaming, the order you dragged is kept.

⚠️ Folders are boundaries

If the preview shows folder rows — that is, as soon as your selection comes from several folders — a file can only be moved within its own folder. Drag it over a different folder and the pointer shows the no-entry sign with no green line: a file under a heading it does not belong to would simply be labelled wrongly. If you marked rows from several folders and then start dragging, only the part from the folder you grabbed travels along. Without folder rows — everything from one source — there is no boundary; the order stays completely free there.

You mark rows just as in the analysis list: Ctrl+click adds individual ones, Shift+click a whole range — and does so in addition to the existing marking, so that “single, range, single” can be built up in sequence. Ctrl+A marks everything, Esc clears the marking again (only a second Esc closes the window). The space bar toggles the ticks of all marked rows together.

💡 Marking and ticking are two different things

The marking (row highlighted orange) is transient working state — it says what dragging and the space bar refer to. The tick on the left decides whether the file is renamed. Esc clears only the marking and leaves the ticks untouched. The marking also survives a rebuild of the blocks — the preview is recalculated, but your marked rows stay marked.

Screenshot 37: A row being moved in the preview: card at the mouse pointer with file name and count, green line at the insertion point — Fig. 37 — A row being moved in the preview: card at the mouse pointer with file name and count, green line at the insertion point

7.7 Presets: saving your own templates

Save frequently used chains as a preset and call them up again at any time:

Assemble the chain of blocks you want.
In the “My presets” area, enter a name and click Save.
Saved presets appear under “Existing presets” and can be dragged into the field like a block.

A preset you inserted can be expanded in the field and adjusted further. Move the whole chain by its drag handle (“Drag to move the entire chain”). Remove templates you no longer need with Delete preset. Duplicate names are rejected by the program.

Screenshot 38: Preset area with name field, save button and the list of existing presets — Fig. 38 — Preset area with name field, save button and the list of existing presets

7.8 Running and undoing the renaming

When the preview looks right, click ✏ Rename (“Rename all selected files”). The progress runs as “N / M renamed…”, and at the end the status line reports “✓ N files renamed”.

↩ Undo reverses the last renaming operation.
Cancel stops a running operation — files already renamed stay renamed.

🧪 Blocked in test mode

Without a licence the final renaming is blocked — but the preview remains fully usable (note: “⚠ Test mode: the final renaming is blocked – the preview stays usable.”).

Screenshot 39: Footer of the kit with “✏ Rename”, “↩ Undo” and the status message “✓ N files renamed” — Fig. 39 — Footer of the kit with “✏ Rename”, “↩ Undo” and the status message “✓ N files renamed”