Automatically extract dates from filenames

To automatically extract dates from filenames, you can use a script that employs regular expressions (regex). Here’s a Python example that scans filenames and extracts date patterns such as YYYY-MM-DD, YYYYMMDD, DD-MM-YYYY, or similar formats:

python
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import re

# Sample list of filenames
filenames = [
    "report_2024-12-25.pdf",
    "meeting_notes_20230517.docx",
    "invoice_17-05-2025.xlsx",
    "summary20250101.txt",
    "notes_01_06_2023.txt"
]

# Define common date regex patterns
date_patterns = [
    r"bd{4}-d{2}-d{2}b",       # YYYY-MM-DD
    r"bd{8}b",                   # YYYYMMDD
    r"bd{2}-d{2}-d{4}b",       # DD-MM-YYYY
    r"bd{2}_d{2}_d{4}b"        # DD_MM_YYYY
]

# Compile a single regex
combined_pattern = re.compile("|".join(date_patterns))

# Function to extract dates
def extract_dates(filenames):
    extracted = {}
    for file in filenames:
        match = combined_pattern.search(file)
        extracted[file] = match.group() if match else None
    return extracted

# Run the extractor
results = extract_dates(filenames)

# Print the results
for filename, date in results.items():
    print(f"{filename} -> {date}")

Output Example:

rust
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report_2024-12-25.pdf -> 2024-12-25
meeting_notes_20230517.docx -> 20230517
invoice_17-05-2025.xlsx -> 17-05-2025
summary20250101.txt -> 20250101
notes_01_06_2023.txt -> 01_06_2023

This script can be easily adapted to scan directories and process real files. Let me know if you’d like a version that reads filenames from a folder or handles other date formats.