Rename a file or directory.
int rename( const char *oldname, const char *newname );
int _wrename( const wchar_t *oldname, const wchar_t *newname );
| Routine | Required Header | Compatibility |
| rename | <io.h> or <stdio.h> | ANSI, Win 95, Win NT |
| _wrename | <stdio.h> or <wchar.h> | Win NT |
For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.
Libraries
| LIBC.LIB | Single thread static library, retail version |
| LIBCMT.LIB | Multithread static library, retail version |
| MSVCRT.LIB | Import library for MSVCRT.DLL, retail version |
Return Value
Each of these functions returns 0 if it is successful. On an error, the function returns a nonzero value and sets errno to one of the following values:
EACCES
File or directory specified by newname already exists or could not be created (invalid path); or oldname is a directory and newname specifies a different path.
ENOENT
File or path specified by oldname not found.
EINVAL
Name contains invalid characters.
For other possible return values, see _doserrno, _errno, syserrlist, and _sys_nerr.
Parameters
oldname
Pointer to old name
newname
Pointer to new name
Remarks
The rename function renames the file or directory specified by oldname to the name given by newname. The old name must be the path of an existing file or directory. The new name must not be the name of an existing file or directory. You can use rename to move a file from one directory or device to another by giving a different path in the newname argument. However, you cannot use rename to move a directory. Directories can be renamed, but not moved.
_wrename is a wide-character version of _rename; the arguments to _wrename are wide-character strings. _wrename and _rename behave identically otherwise.
Generic-Text Routine Mappings
| TCHAR.H Routine | _UNICODE & _MBCS Not Defined | _MBCS Defined | _UNICODE Defined |
| _trename | rename | rename | _wrename |
Example
/* RENAMER.C: This program attempts to rename a file
* named RENAMER.OBJ to RENAMER.JBO. For this operation
* to succeed, a file named RENAMER.OBJ must exist and
* a file named RENAMER.JBO must not exist.
*/
#include <stdio.h>
void main( void )
{
int result;
char old[] = "RENAMER.OBJ", new[] = "RENAMER.JBO";
/* Attempt to rename file: */
result = rename( old, new );
if( result != 0 )
printf( "Could not rename '%s'\n", old );
else
printf( "File '%s' renamed to '%s'\n", old, new );
}
Output
File 'RENAMER.OBJ' renamed to 'RENAMER.JBO'