Actions in Depth
File Pairing
File pairing in A Better Finder Rename keeps RAW and JPEG pairs, XMP sidecars and DJI .gps files together so they are renamed as one and never drift apart.
What is file pairing?
In many common creative fields such as photography, videography, audio engineering and aerial drone operation, footage and recordings are connected only via their file names. A RAW photograph & JPEG preview may for instance look something like this:
2023_09_22.CR3
2023_09_22.JPG
Other examples are image files and Adobe-style “sidecar” files such as .xmp files with metadata, or DJI .mov files with
corresponding .gps files, etc.
For obvious reasons, you will not want to lose that link when you rename the files.
A Better Finder Rename lets you use the file pairing feature to link such files together so that they are renamed as one.
How do I use file pairing?
This is achieved via the Advanced Options action.
- If the Advanced Sidebar is not yet open, click on the
Show Advanced Sidebarbutton to reveal it - If not already selected, select the
Actionstab - Click on the “cogwheel” icon on the bottom right of the action list to create a new
Advanced Optionsaction - If necessary, select the
Advanced Optionsaction in the action list
You will see multiple checkboxes with various features.
- Tick the
Use File Extension Pairingscheckbox
You will see two text input fields: Take names from: and Apply to:.
The file extension pairing system works by making the names of all the files that match the file extensions in the
Apply to list (the target file) completely dependent on the file with the same name that matches the file
extensions in the Take names from list (the source file).
If no source file can be found for a given target file, the target file name remains unchanged.
The algorithm will take the name of the first matching source file that it finds. So if you define multiple source file extensions, the name of the file with the first matching extension will always be used.
This mechanism is fairly robust but takes place before the file name conflict resolution, so it’s important to properly check your file names before proceeding with your rename, as final file names could still diverge if there are file name conflicts. In practice, this can only become a problem in very complex situations, but it is worth looking out for.
The feature is called file pairing, but you can obviously have multiple target files linked to a single source file.