Overview

bulk-mv is an interactive tool that does what the mv command does, but for mulitiple files, with the ability to do more like adding and deleting files as well.

Installation

pip install bulk-mv

Usage

When you run bmv <path>, a bulk-mv (bmv) file will open in a vim buffer, representing the file tree starting in the directory located at <path>.

Then, you can make your modifications in the vim buffer, and run :wq to perform the changes.

Suppose your directory file tree was this:

.
├── README.md
└── web
    ├── public
    │   └── photos
    │       └── logo.png
    └── static
        ├── javascript
        │   ├── auth.js
        │   └── main.js
        └── styles
            └── main.css

Then running bmv <path> will open up the following bmv file in a vim buffer:

[./] {
  README.md
  [web] {
    [public] {
      [photos] {
        logo.png
      }
    }
    [static] {
      [styles] {
        main.css
      }
      [javascript] {
        auth.js
        main.js
      }
    }
  }
}

Some Use Cases

Renaming multiple files

bulk-rename.mov

Moving multiple directories

bulk-move.mov

BMV Syntax

Here's how to use the only four operators in BMV (+, -, >, >>) to add, delete, rename, and move files and/or directories.

Creating new files/directories

You can add files or directories using the + operator.

Here's how to use it to add new files and directories

[./] {
  README.md
  [web] {
    [public] {
      [photos] {
        logo.png
      }
    }

    + [templates] {
      + [dashboard] {
        dashboard.html
        admin.html
      }

      index.html
      about.html
    }

    [static] {
      [styles] {
        main.css
        + dashboard.css
      }
      [javascript] {
        auth.js
        main.js
      }
    }
  }
}

Notice how you can add multiple nested directories. If you want to add a single file you need to type + new_file.txt in the directory block where you want it.

If you create a new directory with (also new) files inside of it, you don't need to use the + operator to add them. But for new nested directories, you do need to use the + operator.

Deleting files/directories

You can delete files or directories using the - operator.

You can delete entire directories or files like this:

[./] {
  README.md
  [web] {
    [public] {
      [photos] {
        logo.png
      }
    }
    [static] {
      - [styles] {
        main.css
      }
      [javascript] {
        - auth.js
        main.js
      }
    }
  }
}

Running this would delete the ./web/static/javascript/auth.js file as well as the ./web/static/styles/ folder (and of course everything in it).

Renaming files/directories

You can rename files or directories using the > operator.

[./] {
  README.md
  [web] {
    [public] {
      [photos > images] {
        logo.png
      }
    }
    [static] {
      [styles] {
        main.css
      }
      [javascript] {
        auth.js
        main.js > script.js
      }
    }
  }
}

Running this would rename the ./web/public/photos/ directory to ./web/public/images/, and rename ./web/static/javascript/main.js to ./web/static/javascript/script.js

Moving files/directories

You can move files or directories using the >> operator. Moving files to paths with non-existent directories will not be created automatically.

[./] {
  README.md >> ./web
  [web] {
    [public] {
      [photos >> ./web/static] {
        logo.png
      }
    }
    [static] {
      [styles] {
        main.css
      }
      [javascript] {
        auth.js
        main.js
      }
    }
  }
}

Running this would move ./README.md to ./web/README.md, and move ./web/public/photos/ to ./web/static/photos.

You currently have to specify the full path to the directory you want to move the file/directory to starting from root path of the file tree (in this case, it's ./).

Putting it all together.

Of course, you can mix and match these operations all in one go. Just note the order of operations to avoid making a mistake, like moving a file to a directory that you haven't created yet, for example.

Operations are given the following precedence:

1. add
2. delete
3. rename (files first, then directories)
4. move (files first, then directories)

Caveat

So far, bulk-mv only works on files/directories with POSIX Portable filenames/dirnames.

In the future version, I want bulk-mv to support any type of support filenames on Mac OS, Linux, and Windows.