Bulk rename of ebook files (epub,mobi,pdf) using embedded meta-data (title, author(s)). This version depends on the opensource software called Calibre that comes with Calibre CLI which is very easy to install on OSX or Linux system.

Release based on Semantic Versioning version.

The file will be renamed using the following format <title>.by.<author(s)>.<extension>

Also the final file name will be sanitized e.g. any multiple occurence of special characters will be replace by given separator char (default to dot) .

For example if the ebook contain the title Start with Why: How Grate Leader Inspire Everyone to Take Action and the author is Simon Sinek then the default output will be Start.with.Why.How.Great.Leader.Inspire.Everyone.to.Take.Action.by.Simon.Sinek.pdf Note that the : and one space before the word How is replaced by one dot string.

If the --sep-string _ is used then the above output will be Start_with_Why_How_Great_Leader_Inspire_Everyone_to_Take_Action_by_Simon_Sinek.pdf.

• You will need to install Calibre and Calibre CLI on your OS. Please download Calibre binary from http://calibre-ebook.com/download

Alternatively if you are using Ubuntu try:

sudo apt-get install calibre calibre-bin

# check your installation
which ebook-meta #=> /usr/bin/ebook-meta

In particular the gem is looking for the ebook-meta binary in a path. If this is not installed the error will be raised.

If you install using the binary above you will need to create a symlink to the ebook-meta binary like the following:

# Assume that /usr/local/bin is in your $PATH varaiable
cd /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -fs /Applications/calibre.app/Contents/MacOS/ebook-meta /usr/local/bin/ebook-meta
source ~/.zshrc # or source ~/.bashrc
which ebook-meta

gem install ebook_renamer

# Show the list of options
ebook_renamer

Usage:
  ebook_renamer

Options:
  -b, [--base-dir=BASE_DIR]              # Base directory
                                         # Default: . (current directory)
  -r, [--recursive], [--no-recursive]    # Search for files recursively
                                         # Default: --recursive
  -s, [--sep-string=SEP_STRING]          # Separator string between each word in output filename
                                         # Default: '_' (underscore)
  -d, [--downcase], [--no-downcase]      # Convert each word in the output filename to lowercase
                                         # Default: --no-downcase
  -t, [--capitalize], [--no-capitalize]  # Capitalize each word in the output filename
                                         # Default: --no-capitalize
  -c, [--commit], [--no-commit]          # Make your changes permanent
                                         # Default: --no-commit
  -v, [--version], [--no-version]        # Display version information

Rename multiple ebook files (pdf,epub,mobi) from a given directory

The shortest command that you can run to rename files is

# This will rename any ebook files under the directory `~/Dropbox/ebooks`
# and any sub-directory for (*.epub, *.pdf, *.mobi) using the default settings
cd ~/Dropbox/ebooks
ebook_renamer --commit

To see what the result would be like without making any changes (dry-run)

cd ~/Dropbox/ebooks/
ebook_renamer --base-dir .

Should see the result like

-----------------------------------------------------------
 FYI: no changes as this is a dry-run, please use --commit
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 of 4 old name : ./demo1.pdf
1 of 4 new name : ./Fearless.Refactoring.by.Andrzej.Krzywda.pdf
2 of 4 old name : ./demo2.epub
2 of 4 new name : ./EPUB.3.0.Specification.by.EPUB.3.Working.Group.epub
3 of 4 old name : ./subdir/demo3.pdf
3 of 4 new name : ./subdir/Reliably.Deploying.Rails.Applications.by.Ben.Dixon.pdf
4 of 4 old name : ./subdir/demo4.epub
4 of 4 new name : ./subdir/EPUB.3.0.Specification.by.EPUB.3.Working.Group.epub

with --sep-string option

cd ~/Dropbox/ebooks/
ebook_renamer --base-dir . --sep-string _

should result in something like

-----------------------------------------------------------
 FYI: no changes as this is a dry-run, please use --commit
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 of 4 old name : ./demo1.pdf
1 of 4 new name : ./Fearless_Refactoring_by_Andrzej_Krzywda.pdf
2 of 4 old name : ./demo2.epub
2 of 4 new name : ./EPUB_3_0_Specification_by_EPUB_3_Working_Group.epub
3 of 4 old name : ./subdir/demo3.pdf
3 of 4 new name : ./subdir/Reliably_Deploying_Rails_Applications_by_Ben_Dixon.pdf
4 of 4 old name : ./subdir/demo4.epub
4 of 4 new name : ./subdir/EPUB_3_0_Specification_by_EPUB_3_Working_Group.epub

Run the following command from the directory that contain the file(s) that you want to rename.

# Cd to the directory containing the file(s) you like to rename
cd ~/Dropbox/ebooks/

# Or specify the directory as an option from any where if you set appropriate
# version of ruby (e.g. rbenv local 2.1.1 or rvm use 2.1.1)
ebook_renamer --base-dir ~/Dropbox/ebooks/samples

# Run the command without making any changes to the files (dry-run) in the current directory
ebook_renamer --base-dir . --recursive

# Once you are happy with the result then
ebook_renamer --base-dir . --recursive --commit

# Or using the short version
ebook_renamer -b . -r -c

In addition to the above usage, you can also use the two new flags --downcase or --capitalize

# Lowercase each word in the result filename
ebook_renamer --base-dir . --sep-string '_' --recursive --downcase --commit

will produce the result filename like start_with_why_how_great_leader_inspire_everyone_to_take_action_by_simon_sinek.pdf.

# Capitalize each word in the result filename
ebook_renamer --base-dir . --sep-string '_' --recursive --capitalize --commit

will produce the result filename like Start_With_Why_How_Great_Leader_Inspire_Everyone_To_Take_Action_by_Simon_Sinek.pdf.

• Check out my other gem called ebooks_renamer which provides similar functionality but implemented in pure ruby.
• ebooks_renamer does not rely on the external software like Calibre CLI to be install before use!

1. Fork it
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Make sure that you add the tests and ensure that all tests are passed
5. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
6. Create new Pull Request