Rename all Files in a Folder

Sometimes we need to rename all the files in a given folder, either by appending the date, changing the file extension.
The following example simulates a backup operation, by renaming all files extensions in the LOG folder from .log to .bak.
The Script assumes that you already have a folder under location C:\LOG and assumes that the folder contains at least 1 xxxx.log file.

Option Explicit

Dim wmiService, fileList, fileData

Dim errResult, newName

Set wmiService = GetObject( "Winmgmts:root\cimv2" )

Set fileList = wmiService.ExecQuery("ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_Directory.Name='C:\LOG'} Where ResultClass = CIM_DataFile")

For Each fileData In fileList

    newName = fileData.Drive & fileData.Path & fileData.FileName & "." & "bak"

    errResult = fileData.Rename( newName )

Next

If you’re planning on modifying this script to meet your own needs, there are two key points to keep in mind.

First, notice that we use an AssociatorsOf query in order to return a collection of all the files found in a folder (in this case, the folder C:\Logs )

Set fileList = wmiService.ExecQuery( _

   "ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_Directory.Name='C:\LOG'} Where ResultClass = CIM_DataFile")

An AssociatorsOf query does pretty much what the name implies: it enables you to associate two WMI classes.

In this case, we are associating Win32_Directory (the class that lets us manage folders) with CIM_DataFile (the class that lets us manage files).

You might think that the Win32_Directory class would have a property named Files that would list all the files found in that folder.

For some reason, though, it doesn’t. Instead, we have to use an AssociatorsOf query to achieve the same effect,

For more information about AssociatorsOf see WMI SDK at

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/wmisdk/wmi/swbemservices_associatorsof.asp

The other thing to keep in mind is the fact that when you rename a file using WMI, you must pass the entire file path to the Rename method.

Suppose you want to rename the file C:\Logs\File1.log to C:\Logs\File1.bak. This line of code won’t do it:

errResult = objFile.Rename( "File1.bak" )

Instead, you’ll have to use this line of code:

errResult = objFile.Rename( "C:\Logs\File1.bak" )

That’s why the code preceding the Rename method looks so complicated:

we have to construct the entire path for our new file name, assign it to the variable newName, then pass newName to the Rename method