Manual / FAQ
Posted: 16 Nov 2011, 16:46
Frequently Asked Questions
⭑⭑ Not sure how to use FileBot? Have a look at the Getting Started and watch the video tutorials! ⭑⭑
Q: Can it move files? Can it rename folders? Can it pad Season/Episode numbers with leading 0s?
Yes, the naming scheme is extremely flexible. You can transform the given variables into exactly the path you want. Sorting files into a new folder structure is fully supported.
You can define an absolute or relative path in the naming scheme:
If you are organizing files for Plex then the {plex} binding will give you the path you want:
Q: How do I fix misidentified files?
If the series / movie is not auto-detected correctly you can SHIFT-CLICK
the database to force manual input and selection of the series or movie. You can manually fix an individual match via Double-Click ➔ 
Edit Match. As a last resort, you can always grab the episode list in in the Episodes panel and then drag-and-drop or selectively copy-and-paste the episode data you want over into Rename. Click Match 
to automatically align files with episodes or use drag-n-drop to realign 
files and episode data. There's video tutorials here and here that'll show you how it works.
If you're using the command-line you can do the same via the --q and --filter options. Please read the --filter and fine-tuning manual and have a look at the video tutorial. The --mapper option may also come in handy. When dealing with problematic files manually on the command-line, the --action TEST and --mode interactive options can be very useful.
Q: How do I exclude a file from the renaming?
Select the file that you want to exclude from renaming and press DELETE or BACKSPACE to remove
the selected row from both Original Files and New Names. Use SHIFT-DELETE or SHIFT-BACKSPACE to remove a selected item from Original Files but not New Names or vice versa.
Q: How can I change the episode numbering scheme to S00E00 instead of the default SxE?
You can change the naming scheme in Format Editor to whatever you like. Select Edit Format
or double-click a New Names item to open the Format Editor.
NOTE: Anime don't have season numbers so converting AniDB absolute numbers to TheTVDB SxE numbers
⇆ 
can be tricky.
Q: How can I make FileBot only process video files? i.e. ignore artwork, nfo files, etc
That's easy, just selectively drag in only the files you want. Search for *.mkv. Select all files. Drag them FileBot. Please read How to process only specific kinds of files for more options and examples.
Q: FileBot is deleting the extension from files when renaming. What did I do wrong?
You have set Extension: Override
in Rename Options 
and ignored the Missing Extension warnings before renaming. Set it back to Extension: Preserve 
and all will be fine.
Q: FileBot does not give me the season number. I have {s00e00} in my format, but it'll only give me the episode number. What did I do wrong?
Have you set your preferred Episode Order to Absolute Order in Preferences
? Use Airdate Order or DVD order instead.
Are you using AniDB data? AniDB only provides absolute episode data since anime don't have seasons. Use TheTVDB instead.
Q: Can I undo rename operations? Can I revert previously renamed files to their original names?
Yes. Just open the Rename History
and then right-click any item and select Revert 
. If you still have the original torrent file then you can just drop that into New Names and click Match to align your files with their original names from the original torrent.
Q: Can I manually enter the series / movie name? How can I skip series / movie auto-detection?
Hold SHIFT when clicking a database if you want to manually enter the series or movie name and bypass series / movie auto-detection. Here's a video tutorial for that.
Q: How can I rename folders? It's only letting me rename files when I drop folders!
When you drop a folder into the Original Files area it will add all the files within that folder. Just add folders via Link-Drop (Ctrl+Shift+Drop) if you want to process a folder as if it was a single file. This can be useful if you already have well-organized movie folders with extra artwork, trailer and nfo files. Here's a video tutorial for that. DVD or BluRay folders will be added as a single unit by default.
NOTE: If you want to rename movie files and movie folders then you should use path formats such as {ny}/{ny} and let FileBot organize the files accordingly. Processing files and folders separately in two phases is considered bad practice and a waste of time.
Q: How can I get rid of (US) (UK) (2005) etc at the end of the series name?
Adjust your naming scheme according to what you want.
Q: Can I quickly switch to a previously used naming scheme?
Yes. Click the Change Format button
and select one of the previously used naming schemes from the list.
Q: I'm trying to run FileBot from the console, but I'm having trouble passing in --format because of spaces or double-quotes
You need to read up on how Cmdline and Argument Passing works. Consider using @file syntax for reading cmdline args from text files.
The sysenv script will help you narrow down the problem:
Q: Why do I get weird TheTVDB matches with some TV Shows?
TheTVDB supports Airdate and DVD ordering. If you use DVD sort order but your files are in Airdate order then this can lead to mismatches when matching files to episode data.
Q: Why are some bindings not working in the Format Editor? It says "BindingException: Sample file has not been set"
You have not selected any media file to test with yet. Click Change Sample
and set a media file.
Q: How can I use my OpenSubtitles account? Why can't I download subtitles anymore?
If you're hitting the OpenSubtitles anti-leech limit you can get around that by login into your account rather than using the default anonymous account. Please consider becoming an OpenSubtitles VIP user by making a donation as well.
button in the GUI or by running the configure script on the command-line:
Q: UI is glitching. FileBot crashes on startup. What's wrong?
Graphics glitching all over? FileBot not working via remote desktop (RDP)? You may need to tell Java Swing to turn off Direct3D rendering:
Are you using ZoneAlarm or MSI Afterburner or RivaTuner? Software that interferes with Windows internals (especially filesystem / registry access or Direct3D render pipeline) can cause applications to crash.
Q: I'm running FileBot on a Linux machine and non-ASCII characters get all messed up. Why do unicode characters not work?
On some machines the locale is not set up. You'll need to tell Java what charset filenames are encoded with by setting the environment variable LANG. If you get an InvalidPathException about unmappable characters then it could very well be because LANG is not set up correctly.
Q: How can I tell what version of FileBot I've got installed?
GUI: Press F5 and open the Groovy Pad and press F5 again to run the script:
CLI: Run filebot with the -version flag:
Q: Where does FileBot store its application data files? Where is the rename history? Where are the logs?
The default location for application data is %APP_DATA% on Windows and $HOME on Mac and Linux.
e.g. Windows:
Press Win+R, then paste %APPDATA%\FileBot, then hit ENTER to open the FileBot application data folder.
e.g. Mac, Linux, BSD:
e.g. Mac App Store:
e.g. Windows Store:
Q: How do I clear the cache?
Press CTRL+SHIFT+DEL in the GUI or call filebot -clear-cache to clear the cache.
Q: What does fn mean when calling a script? Where should I put the script?
If you call -script fn:name then filebot will automatically fetch and update that script from GitHub. You don't need to download any of these scripts yourself unless you want to modify the code. If you want to run a local script you can just pass in a local file path.
Q: Where can I find the latest beta builds?
Please read Latest Beta Revisions and Release Candidates for details on the latest builds.
⭑⭑ Not sure how to use FileBot? Have a look at the Getting Started and watch the video tutorials! ⭑⭑
Q: Can it move files? Can it rename folders? Can it pad Season/Episode numbers with leading 0s?
Yes, the naming scheme is extremely flexible. You can transform the given variables into exactly the path you want. Sorting files into a new folder structure is fully supported.
You can define an absolute or relative path in the naming scheme:
Code: Select all
{home}/Media/TV Shows/{n}/Season {s.pad(2)}/{n} - {s00e00} - {t}Code: Select all
{home}/Media/{plex}Q: How do I fix misidentified files?
If the series / movie is not auto-detected correctly you can SHIFT-CLICK
the database to force manual input and selection of the series or movie. You can manually fix an individual match via Double-Click ➔ Edit Match. As a last resort, you can always grab the episode list in in the Episodes panel and then drag-and-drop or selectively copy-and-paste the episode data you want over into Rename. Click Match to automatically align files with episodes or use drag-n-drop to realign files and episode data. There's video tutorials here and here that'll show you how it works.If you're using the command-line you can do the same via the --q and --filter options. Please read the --filter and fine-tuning manual and have a look at the video tutorial. The --mapper option may also come in handy. When dealing with problematic files manually on the command-line, the --action TEST and --mode interactive options can be very useful.
Q: How do I exclude a file from the renaming?
Select the file that you want to exclude from renaming and press DELETE or BACKSPACE to remove
the selected row from both Original Files and New Names. Use SHIFT-DELETE or SHIFT-BACKSPACE to remove a selected item from Original Files but not New Names or vice versa.Q: How can I change the episode numbering scheme to S00E00 instead of the default SxE?
You can change the naming scheme in Format Editor to whatever you like. Select Edit Format
or double-click a New Names item to open the Format Editor. NOTE: Anime don't have season numbers so converting AniDB absolute numbers to TheTVDB SxE numbers
⇆ can be tricky.Q: How can I make FileBot only process video files? i.e. ignore artwork, nfo files, etc
That's easy, just selectively drag in only the files you want. Search for *.mkv. Select all files. Drag them FileBot. Please read How to process only specific kinds of files for more options and examples.
Q: FileBot is deleting the extension from files when renaming. What did I do wrong?
You have set Extension: Override
in Rename Options and ignored the Missing Extension warnings before renaming. Set it back to Extension: Preserve and all will be fine. Q: FileBot does not give me the season number. I have {s00e00} in my format, but it'll only give me the episode number. What did I do wrong?
Have you set your preferred Episode Order to Absolute Order in Preferences
? Use Airdate Order or DVD order instead. Are you using AniDB
data? AniDB only provides absolute episode data since anime don't have seasons. Use TheTVDB instead.Q: Can I undo rename operations? Can I revert previously renamed files to their original names?
Yes. Just open the Rename History
and then right-click any item and select Revert . If you still have the original torrent file then you can just drop that into New Names and click Match to align your files with their original names from the original torrent.Q: Can I manually enter the series / movie name? How can I skip series / movie auto-detection?
Hold SHIFT when clicking a database if you want to manually enter the series or movie name and bypass series / movie auto-detection. Here's a video tutorial for that.
Q: How can I rename folders? It's only letting me rename files when I drop folders!
When you drop a folder into the Original Files area it will add all the files within that folder. Just add folders via Link-Drop (Ctrl+Shift+Drop) if you want to process a folder as if it was a single file. This can be useful if you already have well-organized movie folders with extra artwork, trailer and nfo files. Here's a video tutorial for that. DVD or BluRay folders will be added as a single unit by default.
NOTE: If you want to rename movie files and movie folders then you should use path formats such as {ny}/{ny} and let FileBot organize the files accordingly. Processing files and folders separately in two phases is considered bad practice and a waste of time.
Q: How can I get rid of (US) (UK) (2005) etc at the end of the series name?
Adjust your naming scheme according to what you want.
Code: Select all
{n.replaceTrailingBrackets()}Q: Can I quickly switch to a previously used naming scheme?
Yes. Click the Change Format button
and select one of the previously used naming schemes from the list.Q: I'm trying to run FileBot from the console, but I'm having trouble passing in --format because of spaces or double-quotes
You need to read up on how Cmdline and Argument Passing works. Consider using @file syntax for reading cmdline args from text files.
The sysenv script will help you narrow down the problem:
Code: Select all
filebot -script fn:sysenvQ: Why do I get weird TheTVDB matches with some TV Shows?
TheTVDB
supports Airdate and DVD ordering. If you use DVD sort order but your files are in Airdate order then this can lead to mismatches when matching files to episode data.Q: Why are some bindings not working in the Format Editor? It says "BindingException: Sample file has not been set"
You have not selected any media file to test with yet. Click Change Sample
and set a media file. Q: How can I use my OpenSubtitles account? Why can't I download subtitles anymore?
If you're hitting the OpenSubtitles anti-leech limit you can get around that by login into your account rather than using the default anonymous account. Please consider becoming an OpenSubtitles VIP user by making a donation as well.
You can enter your OpenSubtitles account information by clicking the LoginOpenSubtitles wrote:VIP users have 5 times higher limits, than "normal" users, thats 1000 subtitles downloads per 24 hours.
button in the GUI or by running the configure script on the command-line:
Code: Select all
filebot -script fn:configureQ: UI is glitching. FileBot crashes on startup. What's wrong?
Graphics glitching all over? FileBot not working via remote desktop (RDP)? You may need to tell Java Swing to turn off Direct3D rendering:
Code: Select all
setx J2D_D3D falseQ: I'm running FileBot on a Linux machine and non-ASCII characters get all messed up. Why do unicode characters not work?
On some machines the locale is not set up. You'll need to tell Java what charset filenames are encoded with by setting the environment variable LANG. If you get an InvalidPathException about unmappable characters then it could very well be because LANG is not set up correctly.
Code: Select all
export LANG="en_US.UTF-8"
export LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8"Q: How can I tell what version of FileBot I've got installed?
GUI: Press F5 and open the Groovy Pad and press F5 again to run the script:
Code: Select all
runScript 'sysinfo'Code: Select all
filebot -versionQ: Where does FileBot store its application data files? Where is the rename history? Where are the logs?
The default location for application data is %APP_DATA% on Windows and $HOME on Mac and Linux.
e.g. Windows:
Code: Select all
%APPDATA%\FileBote.g. Mac, Linux, BSD:
Code: Select all
$HOME/.filebotCode: Select all
$HOME/Library/Containers/net.filebot.FileBot/Data/Library/Application Support/User DataCode: Select all
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages\PointPlanck.FileBot_*\LocalCache\Roaming\FileBotQ: How do I clear the cache?
Press CTRL+SHIFT+DEL in the GUI or call filebot -clear-cache to clear the cache.
Q: What does fn mean when calling a script? Where should I put the script?
If you call -script fn:name then filebot will automatically fetch and update that script from GitHub. You don't need to download any of these scripts yourself unless you want to modify the code. If you want to run a local script you can just pass in a local file path.
Q: Where can I find the latest beta builds?
Please read Latest Beta Revisions and Release Candidates for details on the latest builds.