namefix.pl is a comprehensive file renaming utility originally created and shared on IRC in 2000, then officially published on SourceForge on May 30, 2006. This makes namefix one of the earliest and most powerful file renaming tools available, with over 25 years of evolution and refinement. Designed to provide an advanced and customizable solution for renaming and organizing files, particularly media collections, it supports both command-line interface (CLI) and graphical user interface (GUI) functionalities.

With over 60+ specialized renaming options, including batch renaming, regex-based renaming, MP3 tag integration, filesystem-aware processing, and platform independence, namefix.pl has been trusted by technical users for over two decades. Its flexibility and comprehensive feature set have made it the definitive solution for complex file organization and filename fixing tasks.

One standout feature in the GUI is block renaming, which simplifies bulk renaming tasks. Users can copy and paste a multiline text of new filenames into a "destination" text window, while a "source" text window displays the original filenames. This feature also allows users to selectively remove files from the renaming list, providing unprecedented control over batch operations.

namefix.pl is the original and most comprehensive namefix solution available, establishing the standard for advanced file renaming tools since 2000. With over 25 years of continuous development and feature expansion, namefix has evolved into the most trusted namefix utility for professional file management, offering unmatched depth and reliability for file name fixing operations across all major platforms.

# Download and extract namefix-linux.tar.gz
tar -zxvf namefix-linux.tar.gz
cd namefix-linux/

# Run immediately - no installation needed!
./namefix-gui.par              # GUI version
./namefix-cli.par --help       # CLI version

# Download the source
wget https://github.com/jacob-jarick/namefix/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
unzip master.zip && cd namefix-master

# Install Perl dependencies (only needed for .pl files)
sudo ./extra/install-modules.sh

# Install system-wide (optional)
sudo ./extra/install.sh

# Run from source
perl namefix.pl               # GUI
perl namefix-cli.pl --help    # CLI

1. Download and run namefix.pl_install.exe from the releases
2. Run namefix-gui.exe for GUI or namefix.exe for command line

Pre-compiled PAR executables work on any system with basic Perl:

• namefix-gui.par - GUI version (all modules bundled)
• namefix-cli.par - CLI version (all modules bundled)

# Linux/macOS - No module installation needed!
chmod +x namefix-gui.par namefix-cli.par
./namefix-gui.par              # Launch GUI
./namefix-cli.par --help       # CLI usage

• Batch Processing: Handle thousands of files simultaneously
• Dual Interface: Full-featured GUI and comprehensive CLI
• Cross-Platform: Linux, macOS, Windows support
• Safe Operations: Preview mode by default, undo functionality
• Media-Aware: Special handling for MP3, video, image files

• Case Conversion: Upper/lower case, smart capitalization
• Space Handling: Convert underscores, dots, normalize spacing
• Character Cleanup: Remove/convert international characters, nasty characters
• 7-bit ASCII Conversion: Convert all extended UTF-8 characters to ASCII equivalents
• Custom Replacements: Remove/replace strings with regex support
• Truncation: Multiple patterns - from start (default), middle with custom insertion, or end

• Enumeration: Multiple numbering styles with zero-padding
• Pattern Matching: Powerful regex-based transformations
• Scene/Unscene: Convert between scene naming conventions
• Custom Word Lists: Remove unwanted words, special casing rules
• Digit Processing: Remove/pad numbers, format episode numbering

• MP3 Tag Integration: Guess tags from filenames, manipulate ID3 data
• EXIF Data Management: View and remove EXIF metadata from image files
• Multi-Format: JPEG, MP3, MPC, MPG, AVI, WMV, OGG, MKV, and more
• Filesystem Awareness: Handle case-insensitive filesystems (FAT32/NTFS)

• Block Renaming (GUI Only): Visual bulk renaming with source/destination panels
• EXIF Tab (GUI Only): Remove EXIF metadata from images with checkbox interface
• Recursive Processing: Handle entire directory trees
• Directory Renaming: Rename folders as well as files
• Custom Filters: Process only files matching specific patterns
• Configuration Management: Save/load preset configurations

• Preview Mode: See changes before applying
• Undo Functionality: Reverse the last renaming operation
• Overwrite Protection: Prevent accidental file overwrites
• Backup Integration: Works with version control systems

# Launch GUI in current directory
perl namefix.pl

# Launch GUI for specific directory  
perl namefix.pl /path/to/media/files

# General cleanup (recommended starting point)
namefix-cli.pl --clean --process /path/to/files

# Fix case and convert underscores to spaces
namefix-cli.pl --case --spaces --process /path/to/music/

# Remove unwanted strings  
namefix-cli.pl --remove="[HDTV]" --clean --process /path/to/videos/

# Scene naming with custom patterns
namefix-cli.pl --scene --pad-num --clean --process /path/to/TV_Shows/

# MP3 tag manipulation
namefix-cli.pl --id3-guess --id3-art="Various Artists" --process /path/to/music/

# EXIF data operations
namefix-cli.pl --exif-show /path/to/photos/                                    # Display EXIF metadata
namefix-cli.pl --exif-rm --process /path/to/photos/                            # Remove EXIF data from images

# Enumeration Options - Multiple styles available
namefix-cli.pl --enum --enum-style=0 --enum-zero-pad=3 --process /path/to/Photos/     # Numbers only (001, 002, 003...)
namefix-cli.pl --enum --enum-style=1 --enum-zero-pad=2 --process /path/to/Files/      # Insert at start (01 - filename)
namefix-cli.pl --enum --enum-style=2 --process /path/to/Documents/                    # Insert at end (filename - 1)

# Recursive processing with multiple options
namefix-cli.pl --recr --clean --case --spaces --process /path/to/MediaLibrary/

# Custom regex patterns with special casing
namefix-cli.pl --remove-use-regex --remove="(19|20)\d{2}" --case-sp --process /path/to/Movies/

# Truncate Options - Multiple patterns available  
namefix-cli.pl --trunc=50 --trunc-pat=0 --process /path/to/Documents/           # Truncate from start (default)
namefix-cli.pl --trunc=50 --trunc-pat=1 --trunc-ins="..." --process /path/to/   # Truncate from middle with insertion
namefix-cli.pl --trunc=50 --trunc-pat=2 --process /path/to/Files/               # Truncate from end

# Digit Processing Options
namefix-cli.pl --rm-starting-digits --clean --process /path/to/Files/           # Remove digits from start
namefix-cli.pl --rm-all-digits --process /path/to/Documents/                    # Remove all digits (keep extension)
namefix-cli.pl --pad-num --clean --process /path/to/Music/                      # Pad track numbers with hyphens
namefix-cli.pl --pad-num-w0 --process /path/to/TV/                              # Zero-pad season/episode (2x12 → 02x12)
namefix-cli.pl --pad-nnnn-wx --process /path/to/Shows/                          # Format episode numbers (0104 → 01x04)

# Character & Case Processing
namefix-cli.pl --int --clean --process /path/to/International/                  # Convert international chars to English
namefix-cli.pl --7bit --clean --process /path/to/Files/                         # Convert all characters to 7-bit ASCII
namefix-cli.pl --rm-nc --spaces --case --process /path/to/Downloads/            # Remove nasty characters
namefix-cli.pl --uc --process /path/to/UPPERCASE/                               # Convert to uppercase
namefix-cli.pl --lc --clean --process /path/to/lowercase/                       # Convert to lowercase

# Advanced Filtering & Processing
namefix-cli.pl --all-files --filt="vacation" --clean --process /path/to/Files/  # Process all files containing "vacation"
namefix-cli.pl --filt-regexp --filt="IMG_\d+" --enum --process /path/to/Photos/ # Regex filtering with enumeration
namefix-cli.pl --media-types="mp4|mkv|avi" --clean --process /path/to/Videos/   # Process only specific video types

For backward compatibility, these legacy options still work but show deprecation warnings:

# Legacy (deprecated but functional):
namefix-cli.pl --rename /path/to/files     # Shows deprecation warning
namefix-cli.pl --ren /path/to/files        # Shows deprecation warning  
namefix-cli.pl --regexp --remove="test"    # Shows deprecation warning

# Modern equivalents (recommended):
namefix-cli.pl --process /path/to/files    # New preferred option
namefix-cli.pl --remove-use-regex --remove="test"  # New regex option

• FreeBSD FreshPorts - Included in FreeBSD's official ports collection
• FSF Directory - Listed in the Free Software Directory
• Unix.com Community - Recognized as essential tool

• Modular Architecture: Separated global variables into globals.pm for cleaner code organization
• Improved CLI: Deprecated legacy options (--rename, --ren, --regexp) with clear migration paths
• Enhanced Testing: Comprehensive test suite covering all filename processing functions
• Backward Compatibility: All deprecated options still work with informative deprecation warnings

• namefix.pl - Main GUI application (Perl/Tk)
• namefix-cli.pl - Command-line interface
• libs/ - Modular Perl libraries for core functionality
• data/ - Configuration files, word lists, patterns

• Windows Installer: No requirements - all dependencies bundled
• PAR Files (Linux/macOS): Basic Perl interpreter only (usually pre-installed)

• Perl 5.x (5.14+ recommended)
• Tk module (for GUI functionality)
• MP3::Tag (for MP3 tag manipulation)
• Additional CPAN modules listed in extra/install-modules.sh

Note: PAR (Perl Archive) files bundle ALL dependencies using pp (PAR Packager), making them standalone executables that require only a basic Perl interpreter.

The block renaming feature provides a unique visual interface for complex bulk operations:

• Source Panel: Display current filenames
• Destination Panel: Enter/paste new filenames
• Selective Processing: Remove files from operation
• Visual Feedback: See exactly what will change

• ✅ Stable 4.1.6 release with 60+ CLI options
• ✅ Full GUI feature parity (except block renaming)
• ✅ EXIF metadata support for image processing
• ✅ Comprehensive automated testing suite
• ✅ PAR executable distribution
• ✅ Cross-platform compatibility

• ✅ PAR File Distribution: Completed - standalone executables now available for easier deployment
• 🔄 Automated Testing Suite: Build out comprehensive test units to avoid regression (previously done manually with files containing common problems addressed by features)
• 🎯 C# Port Consideration: Considering a rebuild in C# while maintaining that Perl is still the king of regex
• 🧪 Extended Test Coverage: Automate the testing process for better reliability

namefix-cli.pl --help        # Complete option reference
namefix-cli.pl --about       # About information  
namefix-cli.pl --changelog   # Version history
namefix-cli.pl --todo        # Development roadmap

namefix-cli.pl --ed-config   # Edit main configuration
namefix-cli.pl --ed-spcase   # Edit special casing rules
namefix-cli.pl --ed-rmwords  # Edit word removal lists

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Email: [email protected]
• Legacy: Original SourceForge page
• Blog: namefix.blogspot.com

Released under the GPL License. Created by Jacob Jarick with contributions from the open-source community.

Special thanks to Dave 'Zoid' Kirsch whose Quake 2 skin renamer inspired the original concept.

The Windows installer (namefix.pl_install.exe) provides a complete installation including all dependencies. For development from source, Strawberry Perl 5.14.4.1 is recommended due to Tk module compatibility with the GUI components.

Designed to handle large media collections efficiently, with optimizations for:

• Recursive directory processing
• Large file batch operations
• Memory-efficient string processing
• Filesystem-aware operations