Peters Flexible RenAmiNg Kit (PFrank)

dwell · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 5

Hi,

Is it possible to extract, to use in a file rename, the "Last Saved By" attribute which is found on the "Summary" page of an Office files properties?

Thanks for your help.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 448 Location: Canada

Yes - you should be able to.
The propertiy is called %UpdatedBy% in PFrank.

First go to the Options window and select the %UpdatedBy% keyword for insertion.
Then on the main window you have to select one of the "Insert Office Properties" pre-defined commands and insert it in the custom renaming list.

Press Scan and see what comes up on the previewer.

Hope that helps.

Peter.

dwell · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 5

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the prompt response.

I had tried that variable before and it doesn't pick it up.

The results of the scan just show:

testfile__Modified-on-29-11-2007-by-%UpdatedBy%.DOC

Below is what also shows on Main Menu as a result using the sample file :-

abc def__Modified-on-%LastModifiedDate%-by-%UpdatedBy%[/i]

admin · Site Admin Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 448 Location: Canada

You have found a bug with insertion of that file property (+ a couple more)!
I'll fix this in the next release.

In the mean-time I made a beta if you'd like to try it out.

It's at:

http://www3.telus.net/pfrank/PFrankSetup2.291.exe

Sorry if this caused you any frustration.
Thanks for letting me know about the problem!
Let me know if there are any more issues.

Peter.

dwell · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 5

Hi Peter,

That worked perfectly well, many thanks for the very quick fix.

Dave.

dwell · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 5

Hi Peter,

I seem to have found another problem whilst running some tests. Although Max Path Length is set to 512 characters, I cannot get beyond 255.

ERROR - PATHNAME TOO LONG(1): New Pathname:
'F:\Planning Drive File Modifications\1 - ESE service\ESE 8000\ESE 8043 - Mon Reve, Victoria Avenue, St Helier\hsdfhfsdhjfdjhghghjgghg\kdfhfdv\gshjgsfghkhhhhhjjjjjkkkkklllll\ESE 8043 - Service Installation Detailsx__Modified-on-28-04-2009-by-Dave Wellman.doc

I'm sure that this isn't a restriction under Windows Server 2003.

Please ignore the weird directory names, I am just testing!

Thanks (again) for your help.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 448 Location: Canada

Hi,

Everything I've read indicates that there is a restriction of 260 chars for total path length and 256 characters for max file length in Windows. PFrank wil raise errors if the total path is > 256 - I might have to adjust this to to 260.

The reason that I allowed the max path filter to be confgured up to 512 characters is because a user requested it. I think the reason it was required was that they were using a filesystem that allowed more than 256 characters for the total path and they wanted to be able to log those filenames with their lengths using PFrank (this is possible on the detailed window).
Paths greater than 256 are possible on some linux systems; We have such a system where I work. I created files with total path that was much more than 256 using linux but when I go to access those files using windows XP I can't do anything with them because WIndows is incapable of opening them.
I think the same thing would happen with Windows 2003.

Are you able to manually create pathnames with lengths > 256 on your system?

Peter.

dwell · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 5

Hi Peter,

Yes, you're right - restriction on Windows 2003.

Using PFrank in 'batch mode' is there any way to effectively abort the program should it encounter any errors (TOTAL PROBLEMS) e.g. path too long?

At the moment, the program continues to run and, in the log, the last entry is "***Renaming Successful".

If it can, that would be great as I could then email the log for subsequent analysis.

Dave.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 448 Location: Canada

A fail message will show up as long as there is at least 1 file to rename.
The "Renaming Successful" message that you are seeing is a bug. It occurs if the scan results in all files having errors. i.e. there are 0 files to rename.
I'll fix that.

As for aborting if there are any scan errors, that is a good suggestion. I'll make that a command line option in the next release.

Peter.

admin · Site Admin Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 448 Location: Canada

Hi,

I've made a beta that will print warnings in the log file if any problems occur in a command line initiated renaming.
There are also 2 new options - '-e' to abort if there are any scan errors, and '-w' to abort if there are any warning errors.

The beta is at:

http://www3.telus.net/pfrank/PFrankSetup2.292.exe

Let me know if you find any more problem or have any more suggestions.

Thanks,

Peter.