meng.renameFilename.py

#! python3
# renameFilename.py - Renames filenames with American MM-DD-YYYY date format to European DD-MM-YYYY.

import shutil
import os
import re

destFolder = '.\\#temp'

# Create a regex that matches files with the American date format.
datePattern = re.compile(r'''^(.*?)       # all text before the date
                        ((0|1)?\d)-        # one or two digits for the month
                        ((0|1|2|3)?\d)-    # one or two digitas for the day
                        ((19|20)\d\d)      # four digits for the year
                        (.*?)$             # all text after the date
                        ''', re.VERBOSE)

# Loop over the files in the working directory.
for amerFilename in os.listdir(destFolder):
    print(amerFilename)
    mo = datePattern.search(amerFilename)
    #print(mo.group(0))
    # Skip files without a date.
    if mo == None:
        continue

    # Get the different parts of the filename.
    beforePart = mo.group(1)
    monthPart = mo.group(2)
    dayPart = mo.group(4)
    yearPart = mo.group(6)
    afterPart = mo.group(8)

    # Form the European-style filename.
    euroFilename = beforePart + \
                   dayPart + '-' + monthPart + '-' + yearPart + \
                   afterPart

    # Get the full, absolute file paths.
    absWorkingDir = os.path.abspath(destFolder)
    amerFilename = os.path.join(absWorkingDir, amerFilename)
    euroFilename = os.path.join(absWorkingDir, euroFilename)

    # Rename the files.
    print('Renameing "%s" to "%s"...' % (amerFilename, euroFilename))
    shutil.move(amerFilename, euroFilename) # uncomment after testing

print('Finished.')