# Filesets questions

**URL:** <https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/t/filesets-questions/4557>\
**Category:** Discussion\
**Created:** [February 24, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/t/filesets-questions/4557 "2014-02-24T04:28:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kmarie630](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/41988e/32.png) [@kmarie630](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/u/kmarie630)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 4:28am UTC](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/t/filesets-questions/4557/1 "2014-02-24T04:28:03Z")

</div>

Some questions about filesets:  
  
1. Is it recommended to use filesets only when there are multiple files, or are there benefits to using filesets for single files? The name of my file is something lie%variable1%%variable2%.txt. It seems easier to put that in a fileset that has an easier name to type such as %importlog%, and then my 4-5 actions later on can call the easier name. Or am I complicating things by creating an unnecessary fileset?  
  
2. What’s the best way to rename a file inside a fileset… and have the fileset point to the new name? Is there even a way to add more files to a fileset after it’s already been defined? Doesn’t seem like it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nevar](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/c4cdca/32.png) [@nevar](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/u/nevar)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://www.finalbuilder.com/forums/t/filesets-questions/4557/2 "2014-02-24T11:26:14Z")

</div>

Hi Katie,   
  
 Typically I use FileSets only when I have multiple files to perform the same action on, or a file that I would like to find in that list. Typically for single file operations (sometimes even trying to find a file) I have the filename stored in a variable.   
  
 With that said, note that filesets also store other information about the file. Sometimes having the directory, filename, and creation date/time (etc) available all in one variable makes things a lot simpler.   
  
 A FileSets definition can not be changed after its been defined. So if the FileSet is including files in the path C:\Temp and its mask is _._ then it will never contain files from C:\AnotherTemp directory. It can however contain new files from the directory for which it is defined.   
  
 An example of this is when a folder has files which need to be renamed, then another action performed on them while they are in the same directory. So taking our example FileSet from above (“C:\Temp” with a mask of _._) if we rename a file called “RenameMe.txt” to “IAmNowRenamed.txt” and then refresh the FileSet the new “IAmNowRenamed.txt” will appear in the FileSet.   
  
 This is sometimes required for two reasons;   
 A. We need to see the new file   
 B. We don’t want a reference to the old file in our list   
  
 So in summary there is no way to add to a FileSets definition, if this is required we create a new FileSet. If the files captured by the FileSet definition change, then we can refresh the FileSet. An option which is available on all FileSet actions.