How Can I Change File Dates Based on Their Names?

If you want to go for a pure bash solution, you can try something like this: ``` for f in "${fnames[@]}"; do bf=${f##*/} if [[ $bf =~ .*[^0-9](20[0-9]{6})[^0-9]([0-9]{4})([0-9]{2})[^0-9].* ]]; then touch -t "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}${BASH_REMATCH[2]}.${BASH_REMATCH[3]}" "$f"; elif [[ $bf =~ .*[^0-9](1[0-9]{9})[0-9]{3}[^0-9].* ]]; then touch -t "$(date -d "@${BASH_REMATCH[1]}" +%Y%m%d%H%M.%S)" "$f"; else read -erp "Touch date for '$bf' (YYYYmmddHHMM.SS): "; [[ -n $REPLY ]] && touch -t "$REPLY" "$f"; fi; done ``` This checks for different date formats and can prompt you for dates if it doesn't recognize them!

It's important to note that when you move files between different filesystems, their 'created at' time might reset since it refers to when they were added to that filesystem. For media files, there are utilities that can pull dates from embedded EXIF data, which can be a game changer if you have a lot of images!

You might find it tricky since usually user-level tools can’t change file creation times directly. It differs by filesystem as well, but on some systems, like FreeBSD, you might be able to set it back by using the modification time if it’s earlier than the creation date. Not a solid solution, just something to keep in mind!

There's a command line approach you can try, which works for most of your filenames (except for the IMG-20190622-WA0006.jpg). Here’s a sample script you can use: ``` for file in * .*; do new_date=$(perl -ne 's/.*(dddd)(dd)(dd)_(dd)(dd)(dd).*/$1-$2-$3 $4:$5:$6/ and print' <<< "$file"); if [[ -n $new_date ]]; then touch -d "$new_date" "$file"; fi; done ``` This will help extract dates and apply them accordingly!