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I want to have a function, which moves a file or optionally multiple marked files from one directory to a different directory in some parent folder. I managed to design a script which does the main things:

(defun multiple-rename (candidate)
(loop for cand in (helm-marked-candidates)
      do
      (spacemacs/rename-file cand)))
(defun move-from-downloads ()
  "helm interface to copy files from downloads"
  (interactive)
  (helm :sources `(
                   ((name . "My org files")
                    (candidates . ,(f-entries "~/Dropbox/Documents"))
                    (action . (("Rename" . multiple-rename))))
                   )))

The feature which is not present yet, which I would like to have is having some specified parent folder path for a target directory of renaming.

In other words, spacemacs/rename-file takes the file to rename as an argument and if it is not getting an a second argument which is here the case put up the prompt to select a filename where the files should be moved, the path in this prompt is however the path of the current buffer. Instead I would like to have the default path, which pops up in the prompt for renaming to be something different, e.g. home/mydefaultrenamepath. Would be happy to hear some solution, it doesn't need to use spacemacs/rename file, only the flow of having helm candidates to select and then standard directory to move files into (which should be able to be altered).

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  • I would forego writing a function and instead use dired: set dired-dwim-target to t, open the first directory in one window, open the second directory in a second window, mark all the files you want to rename with m (or through a more automated procedure: dired provides various ways) and then press R.
    – NickD
    Mar 11, 2020 at 1:14
  • The process is faster how I intend it, if one of the used directories is always the same. Also I don't get it to work with spacemacs for some reason. Using dired-copy I always get the prompt of the target directory even if I have a second dired buffer open.
    – Rareform
    Mar 11, 2020 at 15:30
  • You need to set dired-dwim-target to t to avoid the prompt. Having a shortcut to open the first directory only adds one more keystroke - for me, the flexibility of this solution overshadows any advantage a custom-made solution has.
    – NickD
    Mar 11, 2020 at 17:01

2 Answers 2

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M-x find-lisp-find-dired to find files in a directory matching user given regular expression. Please note this command supports unicode on Windows out of box.

Select all files and M-x dired-do-rename.

Surely you can use above command in your own code.

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Here's a command that shows files from your-initial-directory, and moves/renames the marked/selected files to your-target-directory. Tested with ./emacs-helm.sh.

(defvar your-initial-directory "~/Downloads/")
(defvar your-target-directory "~/Documents/")

(defun multiple-rename (_)
  (let ((files (helm-marked-candidates)))
    (helm-dired-action your-target-directory
                       :files files
                       :action 'rename)))

(defclass helm-user-rename (helm-source-ffiles)
  ((action :initform '(("Rename files" . multiple-rename)))))

(defun helm-rename ()
  (interactive)
  (require 'tramp)
  (helm :sources (helm-make-source "Rename files" 'helm-user-rename)
        :input your-initial-directory))
  1. M-x helm-rename
  2. C-SPC to mark the files you want to rename
  3. RET
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  • The script doesn't seem to work, after selecting the first file it just opens a file. I would also like to select the file from the helm sources window (it is fancier).
    – Rareform
    Mar 10, 2020 at 14:06
  • You had to press f2 or TAB to select the correct action. In any case, I rewrote the answer.
    – jagrg
    Mar 11, 2020 at 0:51

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