Why is rename command missing from macOS?
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
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I usually rename files and directories with the mv command. I'm reading a book on bash shell that mentions the rename command. When I executed man rename a man page was shown. However, when I entered rename on bash shell, it reported:
-bash: rename: command not found
I did some research and discovered that you can install the rename command with Homebrew.
Is there any good reason not to install it with Homebrew?
Is there anything you can do with the
renamecommand that you can't do with themvcommand?
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the rename command doesn't exist in the first place. And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
UPDATE: It appears that with the rename command you can do regexes like so:
rename 's/(.*)(.*)/new$1$2/' *
With mv, this doesn't appear to be possible.
bash
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I usually rename files and directories with the mv command. I'm reading a book on bash shell that mentions the rename command. When I executed man rename a man page was shown. However, when I entered rename on bash shell, it reported:
-bash: rename: command not found
I did some research and discovered that you can install the rename command with Homebrew.
Is there any good reason not to install it with Homebrew?
Is there anything you can do with the
renamecommand that you can't do with themvcommand?
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the rename command doesn't exist in the first place. And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
UPDATE: It appears that with the rename command you can do regexes like so:
rename 's/(.*)(.*)/new$1$2/' *
With mv, this doesn't appear to be possible.
bash
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
After some more searching, I discovered that the reason there is a man page is because it is documenting a BSD system call, not the command. My question asks about installing this utility with homebrew, so it is applicable to the mac.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:15
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I usually rename files and directories with the mv command. I'm reading a book on bash shell that mentions the rename command. When I executed man rename a man page was shown. However, when I entered rename on bash shell, it reported:
-bash: rename: command not found
I did some research and discovered that you can install the rename command with Homebrew.
Is there any good reason not to install it with Homebrew?
Is there anything you can do with the
renamecommand that you can't do with themvcommand?
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the rename command doesn't exist in the first place. And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
UPDATE: It appears that with the rename command you can do regexes like so:
rename 's/(.*)(.*)/new$1$2/' *
With mv, this doesn't appear to be possible.
bash
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
I usually rename files and directories with the mv command. I'm reading a book on bash shell that mentions the rename command. When I executed man rename a man page was shown. However, when I entered rename on bash shell, it reported:
-bash: rename: command not found
I did some research and discovered that you can install the rename command with Homebrew.
Is there any good reason not to install it with Homebrew?
Is there anything you can do with the
renamecommand that you can't do with themvcommand?
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the rename command doesn't exist in the first place. And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
UPDATE: It appears that with the rename command you can do regexes like so:
rename 's/(.*)(.*)/new$1$2/' *
With mv, this doesn't appear to be possible.
bash
bash
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
edited Aug 21 at 3:32
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
8,29131749
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
asked Aug 21 at 2:52
StevieD
432512
432512
After some more searching, I discovered that the reason there is a man page is because it is documenting a BSD system call, not the command. My question asks about installing this utility with homebrew, so it is applicable to the mac.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:15
add a comment |Â
After some more searching, I discovered that the reason there is a man page is because it is documenting a BSD system call, not the command. My question asks about installing this utility with homebrew, so it is applicable to the mac.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:15
After some more searching, I discovered that the reason there is a man page is because it is documenting a BSD system call, not the command. My question asks about installing this utility with homebrew, so it is applicable to the mac.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:15
After some more searching, I discovered that the reason there is a man page is because it is documenting a BSD system call, not the command. My question asks about installing this utility with homebrew, so it is applicable to the mac.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:15
add a comment |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
In the default install of macOS, rename man page is available in the section 2. As you can notice from the man page, rename is not a command but a BSD system call.
The Homebrew formula named rename is a Perl script. You should be fine with installing it. In-fact it can give you much more flexibility than plain mv command.
After you have installed rename utility via Homebrew, running man rename will show the man page for the installed utility and not the BSD system call.
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the command does not exist in the first place.
rename is not a standard Unix command.
And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
As mentioned above, the man page present refers to the system call by the same name.
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Nowman renamebring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
add a comment |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
In the default install of macOS, rename man page is available in the section 2. As you can notice from the man page, rename is not a command but a BSD system call.
The Homebrew formula named rename is a Perl script. You should be fine with installing it. In-fact it can give you much more flexibility than plain mv command.
After you have installed rename utility via Homebrew, running man rename will show the man page for the installed utility and not the BSD system call.
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the command does not exist in the first place.
rename is not a standard Unix command.
And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
As mentioned above, the man page present refers to the system call by the same name.
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Nowman renamebring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
In the default install of macOS, rename man page is available in the section 2. As you can notice from the man page, rename is not a command but a BSD system call.
The Homebrew formula named rename is a Perl script. You should be fine with installing it. In-fact it can give you much more flexibility than plain mv command.
After you have installed rename utility via Homebrew, running man rename will show the man page for the installed utility and not the BSD system call.
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the command does not exist in the first place.
rename is not a standard Unix command.
And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
As mentioned above, the man page present refers to the system call by the same name.
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Nowman renamebring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
add a comment |Â
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
up vote
3
down vote
accepted
In the default install of macOS, rename man page is available in the section 2. As you can notice from the man page, rename is not a command but a BSD system call.
The Homebrew formula named rename is a Perl script. You should be fine with installing it. In-fact it can give you much more flexibility than plain mv command.
After you have installed rename utility via Homebrew, running man rename will show the man page for the installed utility and not the BSD system call.
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the command does not exist in the first place.
rename is not a standard Unix command.
And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
As mentioned above, the man page present refers to the system call by the same name.
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
In the default install of macOS, rename man page is available in the section 2. As you can notice from the man page, rename is not a command but a BSD system call.
The Homebrew formula named rename is a Perl script. You should be fine with installing it. In-fact it can give you much more flexibility than plain mv command.
After you have installed rename utility via Homebrew, running man rename will show the man page for the installed utility and not the BSD system call.
I'm also curious to know if there is a known explanation for why the command does not exist in the first place.
rename is not a standard Unix command.
And why is there a man page for a command that does not exist?
As mentioned above, the man page present refers to the system call by the same name.
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
edited Aug 21 at 3:17
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
answered Aug 21 at 2:59
Nimesh Neema
8,29131749
8,29131749
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Nowman renamebring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
add a comment |Â
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Nowman renamebring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Now
man rename bring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
Just saw your answer after installing it with homebrew. Now
man rename bring up documentation for the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" for the utility.– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:17
add a comment |Â
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After some more searching, I discovered that the reason there is a man page is because it is documenting a BSD system call, not the command. My question asks about installing this utility with homebrew, so it is applicable to the mac.
– StevieD
Aug 21 at 3:15