This Python program will recursively rename all ESEQ (.FIL) files in the specified directory, ensuring they follow the naming convention described, and convert all filenames to uppercase. If, for instance, you have twenty albums, direct this program to run in their parent directory, and all the albums in subdirectories will be corrected.
I’ve recently put together a downloadable Windows program that will do this for you! Download the APS Shortener installer, or the portable executable.
Otherwise, continue by following the instructions or using the script below…
This script renames all files to be all-caps including extensions, and for the name to be exactly eight characters long with no symbols. It will add filler characters if necessary. It will make sure they’re unique by incrementing a counter. These appear to be the most important factors in making files identifiable to early Disklaviers, based on my experience and those of commenters.
Usage: python renamefordisk.py [TARGET_DIRECTORY]
Just download renamefordisk.py. The source code is also at the bottom of this page.
Why Use This Script?
As mentioned above, this will either correct all the files in the target directory, or will recursively change the names of all .FIL files in subdirectories if pointed at a parent directory. This is very useful if you’re, for instance, transferring many albums using backing up numerous floppy disks.
At this point, you’re ready to use EEXPLORE.EXE to move through each directory and prepare your PIANODIR.FIL. At a future date, I’d like to automate this.
Make certain to back up all files before running this! I can’t guarantee perfect results for all combinations of names and strings of characters. (If you’re using APS Shortener instead of this script, as mentioned above, this is not a concern.)
The above is not guaranteed to read in a Disklavier. This seems to be because of a bug in ESEQ Explorer. But whatever the reason, this does mean the tracks will likely not read correctly in older systems.
Instead, you should shorten all of the filenames before running ESEQ Explorer. Make sure every file has exactly eight characters excluding the extension. Although fewer than eight characters should be fine, some customers have reported problems, so to be safe I always use exactly eight. I always use numbers at the beginning to make ordering the tracks easier. Both my script and APS Shortener do this automatically.
For instance, 00CHOPIN.FIL is a perfect filename.
If you see the above, it’s quite likely it’ll read in your older Disklavier.