Here are a few "tricks" and information that may be useful :
The character (*) can be used in an expression. Placed before the '.' delineating the base name from the extension,
it will represent the base name, placed after it will represent the extension.
It is not a variable and its value can not be modified.
You can "concat" as many modifiers "()" and "[]" as you want. They are evaluated from left to right, the output of the first becoming the input of the second.
Let's examine, step by step, an example on "autoexec.bat" :
%Lb("au","au-")(s/e/e_/g)[2](5).%e
%b on autoexec.bat gives autoexec ("au","au-") on autoexec gives au-toexec (s/e/e_/g) on au-toexec gives au-toe_xe_c [2] on au-toe_xe_c gives toe_xe_c (5) on toe_xe_c gives xe_c the modifier 'L' on xe_c gives Xe_c add fixed text "." on Xe_c gives Xe_c. add "%e" (extension) on Xe_c. gives Xe_c.bat
Many different modifiers can be associated to a variable. Here is the order followed for their evaluation :
You may want to use "special" characters like '(', ';', '*' ... in an expression. To suppress the "special" status of a character, put a '\' (backslash) before it.
For example, to rename the file :
Image.jpg to Image(2).jpg with the expression : %b(2).%e
Use : %b\(2).%e
Except to use absolute paths, new name paths are always relative to Siren's current directory.
Be careful when you are working with the sub-directories loaded (button ).
For example :
Then, after renaming, "paris.jpg" will be in "\" and not in "\photo".
".." is relative to "\photo" and not to "2011".
You can use any variable that is part of the process environment.
Their names have to be specified this way : ${NAME}
For example : ${PATH}
A complete list is available in the "Completion" window.
You can use your favourite expressions like a "library". All written and saved "code" becomes reusable.
The favourite name must be specified this way : #{"exp"}
You can use this only outside of a variable and its modifiers.
For example, if you've got a favourite named "img" associated to the expression "Image %n", you can reuse it these ways :
#{"img"} - Garden.%e
File - #{"img"} - Zoo.%e
It is possible to go a bit further.
The "img" favourite ends with "%n" which is a variable accepting
specific parameters. For example : "{2,10}".
If the expression "#{"img"}{2,10} - %f" is applied to "Garden.jpg" :
#{"img"}{2,10} - %f gives Image %n{2,10} - %f Image %n{2,10} - %f gives Image 10 - Garden.jpg
Of course, you can do this with other modifiers.
An expression itself can be made up of expressions (or sub-expressions).
By separating them with ';' (semicolon) they can be chained. The "New name" created by one becomes the "current name" in the next.
For example, for "PHOTO CLOWN 1.JPG"
%lf;%b("clown","CLOWN").%e gives photo CLOWN 1.jpg %b[3," "].%le;%N{5,10}.%e gives 00011.jpg
In an expression, any parameter can be replaced with a variable and all its modifiers.
This applies to parameters in :
For example, the following expressions are correct :
%f("Text",%At) Will replace, in the name, the text "Text" with the audio title %f("Text",%uAt(1,5)) Will replace, in the name, the text "Text" with the uppercase first five characters of the audio title %Rs{%Rn{1,1,10}} Will generate a random string of a random length between one and ten characters
It can be interesting to use this feature with the %T variable.
For example, %T1{%fc} will contain the first line of the treated file.
Note : In certain limits, file lines used with %T are kept in memory by Siren. Therefore the amount of memory used will depend on the number of files treated.