use warnings; use strict; use File::Copy; use File::Glob ':glob'; mkdir 'test' unless -d 'test'; #foreach( reverse sort glob( "*_Table_*.pdf" ) ){ foreach( sort glob( "*_Table_*.pdf" ) ){ print "$_\n"; my $newname = $_; $newname =~ s/^[0-9_]+//; print "--$newname\n"; ## using copy for testing. copy $_, "./test/$newname" or print "Error copying <$_> $!\n"; #move $_, "$newname" or print "Error renaming <$_> $!\n"; } __DATA__ test files: 8_2007_5_22_15_34_23_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 8_2007_5_22_22_34_12_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_5_22_16_35_23_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_5_22_23_36_12_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf output file: Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf #### 8_2007_5_22_22_34_12_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 8_2007_5_22_15_34_23_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_5_22_22_34_12_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_5_22_15_34_23_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_12_22_15_34_23_Table_-_20071222_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_20071222_XYZ_W3.pdf #### 7_2007_12_22_15_34_23_Table_-_20071222_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_20071222_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_5_22_15_34_23_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 7_2007_5_22_22_34_12_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 8_2007_5_22_15_34_23_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf 8_2007_5_22_22_34_12_Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf --Table_-_2007522_XYZ_W3.pdf