Magic File Renamer Help

Migrating from MFR 7

Magic File Renamer 8 keeps the same batch-renaming ideas as MFR 7, but names, storage, and a few filters changed in the rewrite. Use the tables below to find the MFR 8 counterpart for a familiar MFR 7 feature. There is no automatic import of MFR 7 presets or settings.

Also see What's New, Version compatibility, and FAQs — MFR 7 presets.

UI and workflow

MFR 7 MFR 8 Notes
Applied Filters Filter Chain Same ordered list of filters to apply; renamed everywhere in the UI and Help.
Generate Batch Renaming File Tools → Generate Rename Script Exports pending path and attribute changes as .bat or PowerShell .ps1.
Undo Last (writes immediately) Undo Last (preview session) Loads reverse values and clears the Filter Chain; nothing is written until you press GO again.
Console / MFRC Console (mfrc) See Console Mode. New flags include --dry-run, -o / --output-file, and --set.
Show Hidden (Rename List menu / Explorer) Options — include hidden / system when adding One preference drives File List visibility and Rename List add include.
Open UI with paths on the command line Desktop UI positional SOURCES and --initial-folder Seeds the Rename List and/or opens the File List. Add modifiers use console-style names (--files, --folders, -r, --include-hidden); omitted modifiers follow Options prefs. No preset / dry-run / confirm on the desktop app — use mfrc for that. See Command Line Parameters — Desktop UI.

Settings and presets

MFR 7 MFR 8 Notes
XML presets (.mps) JSON presets Not imported automatically. Rebuild the Filter Chain and save a new preset.
Legacy shared config / session files config.json under %AppData%\finebytes\mfr\ Soft-loads with defaults when missing or corrupt. See Options and Reset configuration.

Filter groups

MFR 7 group MFR 8 group
Case Case
Space Space
Trimmer Trimming
Replace Replace
Format Formatting
ID3 Audio
Attrs Attributes
Misc Misc

Filters renamed or combined

Most filters keep the same display name. These are the ones that changed. Full catalog: Filters.

MFR 7 MFR 8 Notes
Remove Duplicate Characters Shrink Duplicate Characters Same behavior; renamed in the rewrite.
Trim Spaces Left Strip Spaces Left Same behavior; renamed in the rewrite.
Trim Spaces Right Strip Spaces Right Same behavior; renamed in the rewrite.
Date Setter + Time Setter Date/Time Setter One filter with optional Set date / Set time.
Set from FreeDB — Not shipped yet. May return in a later release.

Name List, Replace List, and Casing List

In MFR 7 these filters pointed at an external text file (browse / New / Reload). In MFR 8 the list text lives inside the filter — edit it in Filter Configuration; it is saved with the Filter Chain and JSON presets. There is no separate list file path, and no Reload step after editing outside the app.

MFR 7 MFR 8 Notes
Name List (path to a .txt file) Name List — embedded Entries One name per line in the filter options. Prefix / Suffix still support formatter tokens. Paste from an old list file, or use Rename List Edit as Name List.
Replace List (path to a replace-list file) Replace List — embedded Entries Pairs are one line each: search => replacement (not the MFR 7 two-line-per-pair file layout). Match mode and flags stay on the filter.
Casing List (path to a word list, e.g. MFRCaser.txt) Casing List — embedded Words One word per line (or comma-separated) in the filter options. Paste from an old casing file if you still have one.
<name-list-entry:path> formatter parameter Name List filter There is no Name List formatting token in MFR 8. Use the Name List filter (embedded entries) instead of a path inside a Formatter string.

Formatting tokens and Rename List fields

MFR 7 MFR 8 Notes
Image Tag columns / <imagetag-*> Jpeg / EXIF columns; <exif-*> / <image-*> TagLib Image Tag fields (Rating, Orientation, Creator, …) are not ported. Prefer EXIF and image property tokens where they cover the same data. See Formatting Tokens and Rename List Fields.
Clipboard text token — Not shipped yet.
GeoNames / <geo-*> tokens <geo-place> / <geo-region> / <geo-country>; Jpeg Geo Nearby columns Online GeoNames findNearby (HTTPS). Options → Location GeoNames username defaults to the built-in account. See Nearby / GeoNames tokens and How to get a GeoNames username. MFR 7 image-nearby-* names are not aliased.
WMF / EMF image property tokens — Image property tokens no longer cover WMF or EMF. WebP (and EXIF on PNG / TIFF / WebP) are supported instead where MetadataExtractor can read them.

Filters whose display names match MFR 7 (for example Capitalize After, Replacer, Formatter, Audio Tag Setter) are listed under Filters — they are not repeated here.