This file is best viewed in SimpleText. It contains an exact copy of the help available from within NameCleaner, however in this format it can be viewed separately, or printed.
Introduction
NameCleaner is an industrial-strength utility to manipulate file names and types. There are three main areas where it is useful :
• Preparing files created on a Macintosh for use in DOS, Windows or Unix.
• Applying a general file name filter to many files and folders in one go.
• Preparing files created in DOS, Windows or Unix for use on a Macintosh.
NameCleaner does not change the contents of files in any way, at any time. Your actual data is not touched.
For detailed information about how the programs and files on a Macintosh can be used with Windows-based computers, we recommend using Cross Platform, also by Sig Software.
The rest of this help will describe how to use NameCleaner, how all the different cleaning operations work, and some sophisticated scheduling, reporting and logging features. Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
We hope you find NameCleaner useful. If there are any queries, comments or suggestions, please contact us at support@sigsoftware.com.
Sig Software
http://www.sigsoftware.com/
Getting Started
The Item List
NameCleaner performs its operations on files and folders which are in the Item List in the NameCleaner Console. There are three ways to add an item to the Item List :
• Click Add Item… in the Console then select the desired item.
• Drag the item onto the NameCleaner icon in the Finder.
• Drag the item from the Finder into the Item List (requires Drag and Drop).
Click one item in the Item List to view its full path in the Location of Current Item panel. Items can be removed from the Item List by selecting them and clicking Remove Items.
Previewing and Cleaning
NameCleaner performs two types of operation on items in the Item List, using the currently selected Option Set. Select one or more items in the Item List, then click Preview Items to product a report of they will be renamed (see Report and Logging for more information). Click Clean Items to actually perform the renaming. If no items are selected when these are clicked, every item in the Item List will be previewed or cleaned.
While previewing or cleaning is taking place, a Progress bar appears showing the approximate portion of the operation on the current item which has been completed. The Location of Current Item shows the full path of the file currently being examined. If the Progress check box is on, these will be updated for every file being examined. Otherwise, they will only be updated for each folder.
Note : There is one circumstance where the result of cleaning could be different to that shown during previewing. This is if the Rename Failure Handling cleaner is on, and a file's name must be slightly changed to prevent a file name clash. This situation will only be encountered when actual cleaning is taking place.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Purchasing
NameCleaner is freely distributed as trial software. You are permitted to evaluate it for 28 days before discarding it, or purchasing a license. When NameCleaner is purchased, the limit of cleaning 20 files is removed. Scheduling is also available in a special version of NameCleaner.
Licensing
You must purchase one license for each computer on which NameCleaner is used and licenses cannot be transferred between computers. Licenses may be purchased with the enclosed Register NameCleaner program, using a page on the World Wide Web, or via telephone. Payment may be made by cash, cheque, VISA, MasterCard or American Express.
Pricing
Current pricing is $20 for a single-installation license, and there is excellent discount pricing available for multiple-license purchases. A license bundled with a Personal license of Cross Platform costs $30. The Register NameCleaner application includes pricing for up to 20 licenses - for higher-volume pricing, please contact us at pricing@sigsoftware.com. Scheduling is also available in a special version of NameCleaner - please contact us for pricing and details. If you would like custom development of NameCleaner, please enquire for reasonable rates.
Purchasing online (easiest)
• Click Purchase Online… in the about box or go to http://order.kagi.com/?BX
• Wait for your web browser to load up the page.
• Select how many of which products you wish to purchase.
• Enter your name, address and email address in the areas provided (all are required).
• Please enter any additional comments in the space provided.
• Follow the instructions on the web page to enter your credit-card details.
Purchasing via email
• Click Purchase Alternative… in the about box or run the Register NameCleaner program.
• Enter your name, address and email address in the areas provided (all are required).
• Select how many of which products you wish to purchase.
• Please enter any additional comments by clicking the speech bubble next to the product name.
• Select the VISA, MasterCard or American Express payment method and enter your card details.
• Click the Copy… button to copy out the text for emailing.
• Create a new email message in your email software.
• Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
• Address the message to shareware@kagi.com and send it.
Purchasing over the telephone
• Call (US) 510 658-5244, available 10am to 5pm PST weekdays and at some other times.
• Follow the instructions on the telephone.
• When asked, specify how many, of which products you wish to purchase.
• When asked, state your name, address and email address clearly (all are required).
• Please note that telephone orders carry an additional handling charge of $5.
Purchasing via fax
• Click Purchase Alternative… in the about box or run the Register NameCleaner program.
• Enter your name, address and email address in the areas provided (all are required).
• Select how many of which products you wish to purchase.
• Please enter any additional comments by clicking the speech bubble next to the product name.
• Select the VISA, MasterCard or American Express payment method and enter your card details.
• Click the Print… button to print out the form for faxing.
• Fax the printed form to (US) 510 652-6589.
Purchasing by mail (slowest)
• Click Purchase Alternative… in the about box or run the Register NameCleaner program.
• Enter your name, address and email address in the areas provided (all are required).
• Select how many of which products you wish to purchase.
• Please enter any additional comments by clicking the speech bubble next to the product name.
• Select the Check, Cash, VISA, MasterCard or American Express payment method.
• If you are purchasing by cash, select the currency you wish to pay in.
• If you are purchasing by credit-card, enter your card details.
• Click the Print… button to print out the form to sent with your payment.
• Send to : Kagi, 1442-A Walnut St PMB #392-BX, Berkeley, CA 94709-1405, USA.
After you have purchased
As soon as your payment has been processed by Kagi, you will automatically receive an email with the subject Thanks for your Payment containing an enabler code which will work for 7 days. During this period you will also be emailed your permanent license code or contacted if there is a problem (a human has to check your details before sending a permanent license). If you wish to trace an order, please contact support@sigsoftware.com.
Cleaners and Options
Cleaners and Options
File renaming and retyping operations are performed by several ‘cleaners’ built into NameCleaner. Each of these performs a specific set of tasks such as find and replace, capitalization, or cross-platform mapping. Choose Options… from the File menu, and use the Cleaner menu to edit the settings for each cleaner. A cleaner will only be activated if the Use Cleaner checkbox is on when that cleaner's panel is selected; this is also indicated by a diamond next to the cleaner's name in the menu. The activated cleaners are executed on each file in the order shown in the menu.
A brief description of each cleaner follows :
• PC to Mac File Types maps non-Mac extensions such as .html to Mac file type codes.
• PC to Mac Suffixes converts these extensions into descriptive file name suffixes.
• Organise Punctuations performs tasks such as quote smartening and punctuation padding.
• Automatic Capitalization capitalizes words in a file name based on their length and content.
• Capitalization Dictionary looks for specific words, and capitalizes them as required.
• Find and Replace Phrases replaces specific series of characters by others.
• Add File Information adds file information before or after the name.
• Mac to PC File Names ensures Mac file names can be used on non-Mac systems.
• Mac to PC File Types maps Mac file types to non-Mac extensions such as .XLS.
• Rename Failure Handling ensures that file renaming succeeds in all circumstances.
For more information, see help topics for each individual cleaner.
Type a file name in the Input Name field to view how it will be renamed in the Clean Name field. Cleaners that depend on an file's Mac type codes will have no effect on the Input Name.
Option Sets
An Option Set is an overall configuration of all NameCleaner's cleaners. These may be selected from the Option Set menu in the Console. Choose New Set… to create a new Option Set and Clone Set… to produce a copy of the currently selected set for user editing. Choose Remove Set… to remove the currently selected option set, and Rename Set… to change the set's name. Choose Update Sets… to add all the mappings between PC extensions and Macintosh file types included in this version of NameCleaner. If you do this, none of your own settings will be overridden.
NameCleaner comes will several pre-configured option sets :
• Remove ‘ alias’ removes the alias that the Finder puts on alias files.
• Prefix Numbering adds a three-digit incrementing sequence number before all file names.
• PC to Macintosh maps common extensions to Mac type codes and appends a descriptive suffix.
• Macintosh to DOS/Win 3 maps common Mac type codes to extensions, and filters names for DOS/Windows 3.x.
• Macintosh to Win 95/98 maps common Mac type codes to extensions, and filters names for Windows 95.
• Macintosh to Win NT maps common Mac type codes to extensions, and filters names for Windows NT.
It is worth looking at the options for these sets to gain an idea of how the cleaners in NameCleaner work.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Reporting and Logging
Reporting
When items are previewed in NameCleaner, the results of the preview appear in the NameCleaner Report window. The left column indicates current file or folder names, and the right shows how they would be affected by a cleaning operation. If an error occurs with a particular file, it will be shown in the right column.
If Report Cleaning is checked, NameCleaner will also report on actual cleaning operations (this may not be necessary if a preview report has already been made). If Show Changes Only is checked, the report will only include entries where the new file name is different from the old one. If Store Report on Quit is checked, the report will be stored on disk between invocations of NameCleaner for later reference.
Click on lines in the report to select them, or click Select All to select the entire report. Click Cut, Copy, or Clear to perform these standard operations on the selected lines. Click Save As… to save the entire report to a text file in tab-delimited format.
Logging
NameCleaner allows cleaning operations to be logged in a separate file. This is an advanced feature, and will not be needed by most users. Its purpose is to allow plug-ins developed for packages such as XPress, PageMaker, Illustrator, and Freehand to fix links which were broken as a result of file name cleaning.
Click Log Operations to switch logging on. You will also need to specify a file in which operations should be logged. Click New… to create a new log file, and Open… to open an existing one. If an existing log file is specified, logged operations will be appended to the end of the file. If Show Changes Only is set in the Report window, only file name changes will be written out to the log file.
The format of the log file is described in a document available by contacting us. There may be a charge.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Automatic Scheduling
Scheduling is only available in a special version of NameCleaner, available from Sig Software. Please contact us at pricing@sigsoftware.com for pricing and details. This section is included here to provide information on NameCleaner's scheduling abilities, which allow a cleaning operation to be repeatedly performed at a chosen time interval. For example, scheduling could be used on a server so that any new or renamed files created by users on Macintosh computers are checked every 5 minutes to ensure that they can also be read on Windows PCs.
How Scheduling Works
In the Scheduling version of NameCleaner, an extra section appears at the bottom of the Console window where scheduling may be configured. To select a schedule, select an item from the Schedule Cleaning menu. The cleaning will be performed once immediately and then it will automatically occur at the specified time interval.
When the schedule runs, it uses the currently configured Item List. If you change the items in the Item List, the schedule will be performed on that changed list. However, the schedule uses the Option Set which was selected at the time when the schedule was set up. If you want to use a different Option Set for the scheduled cleaning, simply reselect the time delay from the Schedule Cleaning menu and the new Option Set setting will be ‘picked up’. If you change the settings within the Option Set which is selected for cleaning (in the Options dialog box), these changed settings will be used for that Option Set.
To summarize : when the schedule runs, it uses the originally selected Option Set, the currently set options for that Option Set, and the current Item List.
Additional Notes
Because repeated scheduling has the potential to make the report grow too large for memory, the Report List is automatically emptied whenever a schedule runs. Logging also does not take place during scheduled cleans. If you are not happy with these features, we are willing to make a modification.
If NameCleaner is quit and a schedule is currently set to run, it will automatically remember both the schedule and the Item List when it is relaunched. So you can quit NameCleaner and launch it later in the safe knowledge that the schedule will not have been lost.
If you delete the Option Set which is being used for a cleaning schedule, the schedule will automatically be cancelled.
PC to Mac Cleaners
The two PC to Mac Cleaners can be used to help make non-Macintosh files readable on Macintosh systems.
PC to Mac File Types
This cleaner looks for a non-Mac extension on a file name such as .DOC or .html, and uses this to set the Macintosh type and creator codes of the file, allowing the Mac System to identify the format of the file, and which program it should be opened in.
To specify a mapping, type the extension (without the period) in the PC Extension field, and the type and creator codes in the two Mac Code fields. Click the Mac Code : button to pick up these codes from any Mac file. Click Add to add the specified mapping to the list. To select a mapping in the list, click it. To remove the selected mapping, click Remove. To change the selected mapping to the one specified in the fields below, click Modify.
PC to Mac Suffixes
This cleaner replaces the non-Mac extension on a file name with a descriptive suffix. It is recommended that this is used in conjunction with the PC to Mac File Types cleaner, because a file's type will be hard to identify once its extension is replaced.
To specify a mapping, type the extension (without the period) in the PC Extension field, and the descriptive suffix in the Mac Suffix field. Click Add to add the specified mapping to the list. To select a mapping in the list, click it. To remove the selected mapping, click Remove. To change the selected mapping to the one specified in the fields below, click Modify.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Organize Punctuations
The Organize Punctuations cleaner performs several tasks related to the cleaning of file names for purely aesthetic reasons. Although other cleaners perform some similar tasks, it is useful for file name cleaning in a Mac-only environment.
If Remove Characters Outside Normal Mac Range is checked, characters with ASCII values below 32 or above 216 will be removed from file names. These are characters which do not display in the standard font Geneva.
If Exchange Ordinary "Quotes" for Smart “Quotes” is checked, single (') and double (") quote marks will be intelligently smartened into curly quotes. This is purely for aesthetic reasons.
If Apply Padding Spaces around Punctuation Marks is checked, punctuation marks such as comma, period, brackets, colon, etc... will be spaced intelligently with regard to the characters around them. If Exclude Marks next to Numbers and in Dates is checked, this will not apply to punctuation marks next to numbers (e.g. 1+2+3 or 3/5/97). If Exclude These Punctuation Marks is checked, punctuation marks in the adjoining field will not be padded.
Although this cleaner is very rarely used nowadays, NameCleaner was originally designed for applications such as this and so the capability has been left in place.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Capitalization Cleaners
The two Capitalization Cleaners can be used to intelligently capitalize words within file names.
Automatic Capitalization
This cleaner capitalizes words within file names based on their length, and whether they contain any numeric characters. For each category of words, select the form of capitalization you wish to take place. Words are categorized as follows :
• If the word contains any numeric characters, the Words with Numbers setting is used.
• Otherwise, if the word is the first in the file name, the First or Long Words setting is used.
• Otherwise, if the word contains a single character, the Single Characters setting is used.
• Otherwise, if the word contains more than the Maximum Characters in Shorter Words field, the First or Long Words setting is used.
• Otherwise, the Shorter Words setting is used.
Capitalization Dictionary
This cleaner capitalizes words by matching them against a pre-defined dictionary. Each word in a file name is looked up in the dictionary (ignoring case, of course), and is replaced with the entered form if a match is found.
Click Add to add the word specified in the Word field to the list. To select a word in the list, click it. To remove the selected word, click Remove. To change the selected word to the one specified in the field below, click Modify.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Find and Replace Phrases
The Find and Replace Phrases cleaner allows specific phrases within a file name to be replaced by a different phrase. Phrases are matched anywhere within a file name, and capitalization is ignored.
There are two subtleties to be aware of with this cleaner :
• Longer matched phrases take priority over shorter ones. For example, if the mappings in->out and bin->trash are specified, the phrase binary will be changed to trashary, not boutary.
• It is possible to get stuck in a loop of replacing. For example, if the mappings in->out and out->bin are specified, the phrase ring will become rbbbb…(infinite)…bbbboutg. NameCleaner will recover under these circumstances.
To specify a mapping, type the old phrase in the Old field, and the new phrase in the New field. Click Add to add the specified mapping to the list. To select a mapping in the list, click it. To remove the selected mapping, click Remove. To change the selected mapping to the one specified in the fields below, click Modify.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Add File Information
The Add File Information cleaner adds information before or after file names. This can be a mixture of fixed text and variable fields.
Type the text to add before file names in the Before field. Type the text to add after file names in the Append field. If a colon (:) is found within this text, the next character will specify the type of the variable field to insert.
The :T symbol is replaced with a phrase describing the type of the file (see Type Code Names below).
The :S symbol is replaced with the size of file. If Size in KBytes is checked, this will be the number of Kilobytes (1024 bytes). Otherwise, it will be in individual bytes.
The :D symbol is replaced with a short date pertaining to the file. If Date Modified is checked, this will be the date on which the file was last modified. Otherwise, it will be the date on which the file was created.
The symbols :1 to :5 are replaced with a sequence number for the item being cleaned, starting at one. The number after the colon specifies the minimum number of digits to be used in the representation, e.g. :3 will be replaced by the sequence 001, 002, …009, 010, 011…
Type Code Names
This section allows a mapping to be specified between a file's type code, and a string describing the format of the file. This is used where the :T symbol is found in the Before or After fields.
To specify a mapping, type the type code in the Type Code field, and the description in the right field. Click the Type Code : button to pick up the type code from any Mac file. Click Add to add the specified mapping to the list. To select a mapping in the list, click it. To remove the selected mapping, click Remove. To change the selected mapping to the one specified in the fields below, click Modify.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Mac to PC File Names
The Mac to PC File Names cleaner prepares file names for use under foreign file systems such as MS-DOS/Windows 3.x (FAT), Windows 95/98 (VFAT or FAT32), Windows NT (NTFS) and others.
Before the Mac to PC File Names cleaner changes the file name, it checks for the existence of a non-Mac extension such as .DOC or .html. If it finds one, it ensures this will not be affected by any operations.
To use a built-in character mapping, select it in the Character Conversion For menu. These are based on Microsoft Technical Documentation, verified by user experience, and will map characters as undestructively as possible.
If Truncate Name Length to 8-characters DOS limit is checked, file names will be reduced to 8 characters in length.
If Restrict to 7-bit ASCII values (i.e. 127 or below) is checked, characters will be changed as expected. This will take place anyhow if a built-in character mapping is used.
If Erase Trailing and Leading Spaces and Periods is checked, spaces and periods at the start of end of file names will be removed. These often cause problems on non-Macintosh filing systems.
If Change Illegal Character List is checked, further custom character mapping may be performed. Characters in the Change Characters field will be changed into the corresponding one in the Change Above To field. For example, the third character in the Change Characters field will be mapped to the third character in the Change Above To field. If a character in the Change Characters field does not have a corresponding one (i.e. the Change Above To field is too short), the Default Change character will be used.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Mac to PC File Types
The Mac to PC File Types cleaner uses the Macintosh type and creator codes of a file to add a non-Mac extension such as .DOC or .html, allowing non-Mac systems to identify the format of the file, and which program it should be opened in.
File type mappings can be based on a type/creator code combination, or on a type code alone. Files are affected as follows :
• If the file name already contains an extension, and Leave All Existing Extensions is checked, it is unaffected.
• Otherwise, if there is an entry in the Codes to Extension list for the file's exact type and creator codes, the corresponding extension is added to the file name. An already-existing extension will be replaced.
• Otherwise, if there is an entry in the list for the file's type code, the corresponding extension is used.
• Otherwise, if Use Default is checked, the Use Default extension is used.
• Otherwise, the file is unaffected.
To specify a mapping, type the Mac type and creator codes in the two Mac Code fields, and the extension (without the period) in the PC Extension field. Leave the second half of the Mac Code fields as ____ to create a mapping based on type code only. If you want to add a mapping for folders, use the type/creator combination fold/fold. Click the Mac Code : button to pick up the type codes from any Mac file. Click Add to add the specified mapping to the list. To select a mapping in the list, click it. To remove the selected mapping, click Remove. To change the selected mapping to the one specified in the fields below, click Modify.
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Rename Failure Handling
The Rename Failure Handling cleaner deals intelligently with situations arising when a file name cannot be changed, either because the new name is already being used in the file's directory, or the file is locked or invisible.
If Add Characters to End of Name is checked, duplicate file names will be dealt with by attempting to append characters to the end of a file name. This will not be successful if the file name length is already at its limit. If Change Characters at End of Name is checked, the last character/s of a file name will be changed to prevent the file name clash. If both are checked, characters will be added unless the file name length is at its limit.
In all cases, the file names is changed as little as possible, using the characters in the Characters to Use field. If a file name has been given a non-Mac extension such as .DOC or .html, the body of the name will be changed, and the extension will be unaffected.
The Invisible Files / Folders setting specifies the behaviour for invisible files or folders (i.e. those which cannot be seen in the Finder). If it is set to Leave Alone, invisible items will not be cleaned and will appear in the Report as an error. If it is set to Clean Only, invisible items are cleaned as normal. If it is set to Show and Clean, they will also be made visible so that they can be seen in the Finder.
If Unlock files to allow for renaming if necessary is checked, locked files will be unlocked temporarily to allow the name to be changed. Otherwise, locked files will be given an error entry in the report (so long as Report Cleaning is turned on in the report window).
Note : Balloon help is available for all menu and dialog items.
Any distribution of NameCleaner must include this file. No responsibility about NameCleaner's functionality or integrity is implied. This document and NameCleaner are copyright of the author. Other trademarks are copyright of their respective owners.
