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I have a bunch of files as follows:

04602635_b0294.DAT20120807164534
04602637_b0297.DAT20120807164713
04602638_b0296.DAT20120807164637
04602639_b0299.DAT20120807164819
04602640_b0298.DAT20120807164748
04602641_b0300.DAT20120807164849
04602650_b0301.DAT20120807164921
04602652_b0302.DAT20120807164956

I need to rename them to exclude the prefix. It needs to look like this..

b0294.DAT20120807164534
b0297.DAT20120807164713
b0296.DAT20120807164637
b0299.DAT20120807164819
b0298.DAT20120807164748
b0300.DAT20120807164849
b0301.DAT20120807164921
b0302.DAT20120807164956

EDIT

I forgot to add that I am using Solaris.

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
44 
for file in * ; do
    echo mv -v "$file" "${file#*_}"
done

run this to satisfy that everything is ok.
if it is, remove echo from command and it will rename files as you want.

"${file#*_}"

is a usual substitution feature in the shell. It removes all chars before the first _ symbol (including the symbol itself). For more details look here.

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3
  • 1
    Could you please explain what exactly is happening in "${file#*_}"?
    – Pieter van Niekerk
    Aug 10, 2012 at 13:23
  • I added explanation to my answer.
    – rush
    Aug 10, 2012 at 13:31
  • 1
    IMO, most all scripts should be written to echo the desired command output. But don't then remove the echo, just pipe the script output into bash.
    – Jim L.
    May 29, 2019 at 16:19
14

You can use the tool Perl's rename for this:

rename "s/.*_//" *

If you append -n it won't rename anything and just show you what would have been done without -n.

In response to rush's comment: my rename is is actually a link to prename shipped with Debian's and Ubuntu's perl package.

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5
  • 5
    Note, that rename not always is the same on different systems and sometimes its syntax may differ.
    – rush
    Aug 10, 2012 at 13:34
  • 1
    The asker has now added that he's using Solaris. So this rename command (which is specific to Debian and derivatives) is not available to him.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Aug 10, 2012 at 22:34
  • 1
    ...unless he manages to build it from source.
    – sendmoreinfo
    May 17, 2013 at 5:47
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    @Gilles perl-rename is not at all specific to Debian. It's just not called rename but perl-rename or prename in other distributions. It should always be in the repos though and one is installed with perl as well.
    – terdon ♦
    Apr 27, 2017 at 11:06
  • @terdon A command to rename files whose basic usage is a perl expression is not specific to Debian. Such a command, called rename and likely to be installed without explicitly requesting a package which is not called just rename, is specific to Debian. Other Linux distributions call the command prename or perl-rename to avoid confusion with the util-linux rename and don't bundle it with the perl package, and I'm not aware of any non-Linux unix that ships it under the name rename or that ships it in a default installation under any name.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Apr 27, 2017 at 11:18

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