Pad File Names for Easy Organization and Access | Simple Code Solution

[member 428835]

Hi PF!

I have a list of files data0.0.csv, data0.1.csv, data0.2.csv,...data0.10.csv... I would like to pad the central number with a zero for single digit cases, so that my files become data0.0.csv, data0.1.csv, data0.2.csv,...data0.10.csv... So far my code looks like this

% DEFINE FILE DIRECTORY
    path     = ('/home/josh/CSV_FILES/');
    addpath(path)
    
    % LOAD .csv FILES
    % INFO ABOUT FILE CONTENTS
    csv_info        = dir(path_intfce);
    
    % EXTRACT FILENAMES WITHIN FOLDER
    file_names      = {csv_info(:).name}';
    
    % FILTER ONLY .csv EXTENSIONS
    csv_files       = file_names(endsWith(file_names,'.csv'));

   % I AM GOOD UP TO HERE: EVERYTHING WORKS

    % PAD FILES
    for id = 1:length(csv_files)
        
          csv_num(id) = HELP! % SHOULD EXTRACT JUST CENTRAL NUMBER HERE

          % If numeric, rename
          if length('csv_num') < 2
              csv_num(id) = num2str(csv_num(id),'%02.d');
          end
    end

but then I think I would have to use the movefile function. Overall I am just very stuck. Please help!

 

[member 428835]

Didn't get anything but after a long while I rigged this up. Works well for me. Sharing in case it helps others.

%%------------------------------------------------------------------------
% PADS FILE NAMES OF FORMAT nameNUMext
% I.E. myFile.10.csv ==> pad_files(path, myFile., .csv)
%
% INPUT: (FILE PATH, FILE NAME, FILE EXTENSION)
%%------------------------------------------------------------------------
function []    = pad_files(file_path, name, ext)

    % LAST / MUST BE REMOVED
    file_path  = file_path(1:end-1);
   
    % INFO ABOUT FILE CONTENTS
    file_info        = dir(file_path);
   
    % EXTRACT FILENAMES WITHIN FOLDER
    file_names      = {file_info(:).name}';
   
    % FILTER ONLY .csv EXTENSIONS
    selected_files       = file_names(endsWith(file_names, ext));
   
    % LENGTH OF ALL FILE STRINGS
    file_str_length = cellfun('length',selected_files);
   
    % LENGTH OF LONGEST STRING
    str_max = max(file_str_length);
   
    % IF FILE SMALLER THAN LARGEST, PAD
    for i = 1:length(selected_files)
        if length(selected_files{i}) < str_max
                       
            % FILE NUMBER TO BE PADDED (USE WHEN NAME FIRST)
            n = str2num(selected_files{i}( length(name) + 1 : end-length(ext) ));
           
            % FILE NUMBER TO BE PADDED (USE WHEN NAME LAST)
%             n = str2num(selected_files{i}( 1 : end-length(ext)-length(name) ));
           
            % PADDED FILE NUMBER !USER MUST SPECIFY!
            n_strPadded = sprintf( '%02d', n );
           
            % NAME (USE WHEN NAME LAST
            newName = strcat(name,n_strPadded,ext);
           
            % NAME (USE WHEN NAME FIRST
%             newName = strcat(n_strPadded,name,ext);

            movefile( fullfile(file_path, selected_files{i}), fullfile(file_path, newName) );
        end
    end
   
end