Extracting components of long file names into custom metadata properties

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LouisaVenter

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Mar 22, 2024
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Good day,
I am an ECM Consultant for Datacentrix in South Africa. I have a migration-related question. I hope you can assist.
The issue is this:
1. The source system is a Windows shared drive
2. The target system is a document management solution
3. In the source system, the file names are very long. Most of them are more than 256 characters, thus making it impossible to migrate them to the target system
4. What we need to be able to do is to make the file names in the source system shorter by removing some components from the file names and then pulling them into custom advanced property fields that will be mapped to the metadata fields in the target system. An example of this type of file name is:
Hester Johanna Cornelia Catahrina Janse van Vuuren van Rensburg Winters Opperman van Oudshoorn ID 650909 5005 086.doc
I need the ID number to be the file name and all the name components to be custom metadata.
5. The migration tool we are using creates an MS Excel report of the content of the shared drive. This report is then used to do a data clean-up (i.e., making sure that date fields contain dates, not text, etc.) We can, however, not change any of the long file names on this MS Excel because the migration tool will not recognise the files again to enable them to be migrated.
6. Therefore, we need a method to reduce the file names in the source system while moving the excess information to custom advanced properties for each file.

Do you perhaps know how to do this?
 
Solution
Good day, Indeed, you are dealing with quite a complex situation, but it's not impossible to manage. By using a script-based approach, you can extract components of long file names into custom metadata properties. Here's a simplified guide using PowerShell, an automation framework designed for Windows: Before you start, please ensure you have a backup of your data as this process will change file names.
  1. Open a PowerShell terminal.
  2. Navigate to the folder that contains your files, using the "cd" command. Then, we'll run a script that will shorten the file names and add the excess information to custom properties for each file:
    Code: 
    # Get the list of files in the folder $files = Get-ChildItem -File foreach ($file in $files){ #...
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Good day, Indeed, you are dealing with quite a complex situation, but it's not impossible to manage. By using a script-based approach, you can extract components of long file names into custom metadata properties. Here's a simplified guide using PowerShell, an automation framework designed for Windows: Before you start, please ensure you have a backup of your data as this process will change file names.
  1. Open a PowerShell terminal.
  2. Navigate to the folder that contains your files, using the "cd" command. Then, we'll run a script that will shorten the file names and add the excess information to custom properties for each file:
    Code: 
    # Get the list of files in the folder $files = Get-ChildItem -File foreach ($file in $files){ # Extract the ID from the filename, you may need to adjust this based on your actual format $id = $file.BaseName -replace '^.*ID (\d+).*$', '$1' # Set the new filename to the ID $newFileName = $id + $file.Extension # Extract the name components $nameComponents = $file.BaseName -replace 'ID \d+.*$', '' $nameComponents = $nameComponents.Trim() # Set the nameComponents into custom property $shell = New-Object -ComObject Shell.Application $folder = $shell.Namespace((Resolve-Path $file.DirectoryName)) $shellfile = $folder.ParseName($file.Name) # '21' is generally for comments but you can choose a custom property based on your requirement $folder.GetDetailsOf($shellfile, 21) = $nameComponents # Rename the file Rename-Item -Path $file.FullName -NewName $newFileName }
    This script extracts the ID from each filename and sets it as a new filename while trimming the original one. It also retrieves the remaining part of the original filename (the person's names) and stores it as a custom property for the file (using 'Comments' as an example field). Please customize the PowerShell script according to your needs. Test it with a subset of files first, as this script will modify your original files. If the existing script doesn't provide the desired output, I would strongly recommend soliciting the assistance of a professional programmer to precisely tune the script to your needs. Remember, this is just part of the process. Once this operation is completed, you'd need to check how these updated files with their metadata are migrated using your migration tool. It might need customization there as well to ensure the metadata follows along during the migration.
 
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Solution
You're welcome! That sounds like a solid plan to test the approach before rolling it out more widely. By creating a test copy of the selected folders, you can experiment safely without affecting your original data—smart move!

A Few Tips Before You Start:​

  1. Backup Everything:
    • Always maintain a backup of your original files, even in the test copy, just in case unexpected issues arise.
  2. Define Metadata Requirements Clearly:
    • Ensure you have specific rules for how you want to extract components of the file names (e.g., separating dates, categories, or IDs).
  3. Automate for Efficiency:
    • If the process involves repetitive tasks, consider using tools or scripts (e.g., PowerShell for Windows) to handle batch operations efficiently.
  4. Test in Small Batches:
    • Run the process on a limited subset of files first and confirm the metadata extraction works as intended before applying it to larger sets.

Let Me Know How It Goes:​

Once you've conducted your test, feel free to share the results or let me know if you run into any challenges. I'm here to assist if adjustments are needed or if you'd like alternative solutions for streamlining the metadata extraction process!
 
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