Replicating a real explorer-like file view or implementing renaming options yourself is not feasible. I suggest a two-pane solution:
1. left pane contains original file names per line (copy)
2. right pane contains user's modified file names (pasted)
The flow is:
1. Bulk rename of selected files
2. Open dual pane window with a short instruction on top
3. Let the user copy the list to a file editor
4. User pastes lines on the right
5. if number of non-empty lines matches, rename (else error)
Rename options:
a. Full paths (recursive)
b. Only selected items (non-recursive, individual folders end in / and for files only their names are inserted)
- \r\n normalized as \n just in case
- Linux file names containing \n (if permitted) will not be selected for bulk renaming, everything else will be
Similarly, ability to RESET file paths+names for selected files by automatically filling the right pane and waiting for user to confirm.
Not only do modern editors allow multi-cursor editing (Alt+Left click) but you will never beat their search-replace and ease of use.
