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From cppreference.com
< c‎ | io
 
 
File input/output
Types and objects
Functions
File access
Direct input/output
Unformatted input/output
(C95)(C95)
(C95)
(C95)(C95)
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Formatted input
(C99)(C99)(C99)(C11)(C11)(C11)     
 
Defined in header <stdio.h>
int rename( const char* old_filename, const char* new_filename );

Changes the filename of a file. The file is identified by character string pointed to by old_filename. The new filename is identified by character string pointed to by new_filename.

If new_filename exists, the behavior is implementation-defined.

Contents

[edit] Parameters

old_filename - pointer to a null-terminated string containing the path identifying the file to rename
new_filename - pointer to a null-terminated string containing the new path of the file

[edit] Return value

0 upon success or non-zero value on error.

[edit] Notes

POSIX specifies many additional details on the semantics of this function.

[edit] Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
 
int main(void)
{
    FILE* fp = fopen("from.txt", "w"); // create file "from.txt"
    if (!fp)
    {
        perror("from.txt");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    fputc('a', fp); // write to "from.txt"
    fclose(fp);
 
    int rc = rename("from.txt", "to.txt");
    if (rc)
    {
        perror("rename");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
 
    fp = fopen("to.txt", "r");
    if(!fp)
    {
        perror("to.txt");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    printf("%c\n", fgetc(fp)); // read from "to.txt"
    fclose(fp);
 
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Possible output:

a

[edit] References

  • C23 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2023):
  • 7.21.4.2 The rename function (p: TBD)
  • C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018):
  • 7.21.4.2 The rename function (p: TBD)
  • C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):
  • 7.21.4.2 The rename function (p: 302-303)
  • C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):
  • 7.19.4.2 The rename function (p: 268-269)
  • C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):
  • 4.9.4.2 The rename function

[edit] See also

erases a file
(function) [edit]