Remove pattern from filenames

Question

how can I remove the word "myfile" in a list of filenames with this structure?

mywork_myfile_XSOP.txt
mywork_myfile_ATTY.txt
mywork_myfile_ATPY.txt

Desired_output:

mywork_XSOP.txt
mywork_ATTY.txt
mywork_ATPY.txt    

Answer 1

The simplest method is to use the common rename command which is available in most Unices.

rename 's/^mywork_myfile_/mywork_/' *

This of course expects you to be on the directory of the files. This will not overwrite files. If you want that, just pass the -f option. Also, take note that there's multiple versions of rename out there which may have different options.