How to select & rename tracks with illegal characters

2022-10-09 00:08:59.942Z2022-10-09 00:19:10.323Z

Hi,

Looking for help in selecting tracks (not clips) that contain illegal characters (as listed by ProTools) and the replacing them with a simple "-".

The characters ProTools consider illegal are listed here:
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/troubleshooting/What-characters-are-illegal-in-Pro-Tools

So far I've got the script scanning and selecting the tracks with the illegal characters I've specified as wildcards, the next phase would be replacing any illegal characters with a simple dash "-"

I currently have a long clunky script which recalls batch rename, but I know poking around here something beginning with the following script should be a start. Would love any help!

function selectTracksByNameWithWildcard(trackNames = []) {

    function matchWildcard(str, rule) {
        var escapeRegex = (str) => str.replace(/([.*+?^=!:${}()|\[\]\/\\])/g, "\\$1");
        return new RegExp("^" + rule.split("*").map(escapeRegex).join(".*") + "$", "i").test(str);
    }

    var allNames = sf.ui.proTools.trackNames;

    var namesToSelect = allNames.filter(n => trackNames.some(tn => matchWildcard(n, tn)));

    sf.ui.proTools.trackSelectByName({
        names: namesToSelect,
        deselectOthers: true,
    });
}

selectTracksByNameWithWildcard([
    '*|*',
    '*"*',
    '*:*',
    '*<*',
    '*>*',
    '*?*',
    '*/*',
    '*\"*',
]);

Thanks!

Reply

2 replies

Dustin Harris @Dustin_Harris

2022-10-10 16:12:20.532Z

There is likely a much more elegant way than this, but this is my approach :)

function renameTracksWithIllegalCharacters() {

    const charactersToReplaceAsRegex = [/\?/, />/, /"/, /\//, /\\/, /</, /\|/, /:/];

    const tracksToRename = sf.ui.proTools.invalidate().trackGetAllTracks().names.filter(trackName => {
        let hasIllegalCharacter = false;

        charactersToReplaceAsRegex.forEach(char => {
            if (char.test(trackName)) hasIllegalCharacter = true
        })

        return hasIllegalCharacter
    })

    if (tracksToRename.length == 0) {
        log('No Illegal Characters Found');
        throw 0;
    }

    tracksToRename.forEach(trackName => {
        sf.ui.proTools.invalidate().trackSelectByName({
            names: [trackName],
            deselectOthers: true,
        })

        let newName = trackName;

        charactersToReplaceAsRegex.forEach(char => {
            const regex = new RegExp(char, 'g')
            newName = newName.replace(regex, "-")
        })

        sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.trackScrollToView();

        sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrack.trackRename({
            newName: newName
        })

    });

}


function main() {

    const consent = confirm('Rename tracks with illegal characters?');
    if (!consent) {
        log('Cancelled');
        throw 0;
    }

    /* MacOS thread scheduling mitigation */
    sf.wait({intervalMs: 30})

    sf.ui.proTools.appActivateMainWindow();
    let originalTrackSelection = sf.ui.proTools.selectedTrackNames.slice()

    renameTracksWithIllegalCharacters();
    sf.ui.proTools.mainWindow.invalidate();

    if (originalTrackSelection.length > 0) {

        let track = sf.ui.proTools.trackGetByName({ name: originalTrackSelection[0] }).track
        if (track) track.trackScrollToView();

        sf.ui.proTools.trackSelectByName({
            names: originalTrackSelection,
            deselectOthers: true
        })
    }

}

main();

Reply 1 Like

TTristan Hoogland @Tristan
2022-10-10 16:26:18.340Z
Dustin it's only 9am on a Monday and you are my hero for the week!

Thanks so much! And FTR I think it's pretty elegant ;)
Reply 1 Like

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