Bates Numbering in Pro Office

[kwuser]

I have searched the web site as well as the help menu and I can’t find an option to Bates number documents. Is there a way? If there isn’t a process currently created, does anyone know of an Applescript I could create to Bates number?

I would like to make the file name a part of the Bates number. For example, file name is Smith_John. I want the Bates Number to be Smith_John.000001 and so forth for the entire document and then for all 5000K documents that I am attempting to number.

Any help would be appreciated.

[korm]

@kwuser

I would like to make the file name a part of the Bates number. For example, file name is Smith_John. I want the Bates Number to be Smith_John.000001 and so forth for the entire document and then for all 5000K documents that I am attempting to number.

This would be a simple script – but there are a few specs that need clarification for anyone writing it:

• Are these text files or some other type?
• You want the document name to be Smith_John.000001 – just so you know, the script could either change the name displayed in DEVONthink (and not change the file’s real extension) or it could change the name and the extension. I assume you don’t want the latter, but your requirement matters to the work.
• You want to number 5,000 documents – how will you access these? All at once? Are they sorted, or does that matter?
• Do you want the numbering to always start at 000001 – or to start where the script last left off – or to prompt for the beginning number (the last option is the easiest to deal with)

[kwuser]

@korm

• Are these text files or some other type?
• You want the document name to be Smith_John.000001 – just so you know, the script could either change the name displayed in DEVONthink (and not change the file’s real extension) or it could change the name and the extension. I assume you don’t want the latter, but your requirement matters to the work.
• You want to number 5,000 documents – how will you access these? All at once? Are they sorted, or does that matter?
• Do you want the numbering to always start at 000001 – or to start where the script last left off – or to prompt for the beginning number (the last option is the easiest to deal with)

• These are PDF documents.
• Changing the name in DEVONthink is not an issue. Do not want the extension to change.
• The documents currently reside in my DT database. I want to number them all at once. The sorting is not an issue.
• The numbering has to start where it last left off or there has to be a way to erase all the numbers and renumber when you docs are added.

[korm]

@kwuser

The numbering has to start where it last left off or there has to be a way to erase all the numbers and renumber when you docs are added.

“You docs”? (Is that “new docs”?)

This is a bit more complex than I originally thought (the business about starting over again from the beginning), but not a big deal. If I have time to post something in the next few weeks I will – and there’s probably some one (Christian are you there?) who could do something faster for you.

[kwuser]

Yes typo, You docs is supposed to read new docs.

[BLUEFROG]

1. You should not use a dot (.) in the name, save before the extension. Use a hyphen or underscore instead.

The numbering has to start where it last left off or there has to be a way to erase all the numbers and renumber when you docs are added.

This is not a trivial matter.

Have you considered looking at options in Acrobat?

[korm]

@BLUEFROG

Have you considered looking at options in Acrobat?

Acrobat (or PDFpen Pro) will Bates number pages. I believe the OP wants to Bates number document names.