rename(2)							System Calls Manual							 rename(2)

NAME

       rename -  Renames a directory or a file within a file system

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdio.h>

       int rename (	 const char *from,	const char *to );

       [Tru64  UNIX]  The  following  definition of the rename() function does not conform to current standards and is supported only for backward
       compatibility (see standards(5)):

       int rename (	 char *from,	  char *to );

STANDARDS

       Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

       rename(): XSH5.0

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS

       Identifies the file or directory to be renamed.	Identifies the new pathname of the file or directory to be renamed. If the to parameter is
       an  existing file or empty directory, it is replaced by the from parameter. If the to parameter is a nonempty directory, the rename() func-
       tion exits with an error.

DESCRIPTION

       The rename() function renames a directory or a file within a file system.

       For rename() to complete successfully, the calling process must have write and search permission to the parent directories of both the from
       and  to	parameters. If the from parameter is a directory and the parent directories of from and to are different, then the calling process
       must have write and search permission to the from parameter as well.

       If the from and to parameters both refer to the same existing file, the rename()  function  returns  successfully  and  performs  no  other
       action.

       Both  the  from	and  to parameters must be of the same type (that is, both directories or both nondirectories) and must reside on the same
       file system. If the to parameter already exists, it is first removed. In this case it is guaranteed that a link named the to parameter will
       exist throughout the operation. This link refers to the file named by either the to or from parameter before the operation began.

       If  the	final  component  of  the  from  parameter is a symbolic link, the symbolic link (not the file or directory to which it points) is
       renamed.  If the final component of the to parameter is a symbolic link, the symbolic link is destroyed.

       If the from and to parameters name directories, the following must be true: The from parameter is not an ancestor of the to parameter.  For
       example,  the  to  pathname  must  not contain a path prefix that names from.  The from parameter is well-formed.  For example, the . (dot)
       entry in from, if it exists, refers to the same directory as from, exactly one directory has a link to from (excluding the self-referential
       .  ),  and  the .. (dot-dot) entry in from, if it exists, refers to the directory that contains an entry for from.  The to parameter, if it
       exists, must be well-formed (as defined previously).

       Upon successful completion, the rename() function marks the st_ctime and st_mtime fields of the parent directory of each file for update.

RETURN VALUES

       Upon successful completion, the rename() function returns a value of 0 (zero).  Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned, and errno is  set	to
       indicate the error.

ERRORS

       If  the rename() function fails, the file or directory name remains unchanged and errno may be set to one of the following values: Creating
       the requested link requires writing in a directory with a mode that denies write permission, or	a  component  of  either  pathname  denies
       search permission.  The directory named by the from or to parameter is currently in use by the system or by another process.  The directory
       that would contain to cannot be extended because the user's quota of disk blocks on the file system containing the directory is	exhausted.
       The  to parameter is an existing nonempty directory.  Either the to or from parameter is an invalid address.  Either the from or to parame-
       ter is not a well-formed directory, an attempt is made to rename . (dot) or .. (dot-dot), or the from parameter is an ancestor  of  the	to
       parameter.   [Tru64  UNIX] An I/O error occurred when updating the (underlined) directory.  The to parameter names a directory and the from
       parameter names a nondirectory.	Too many links were encountered in translating either to or from.  The length of the to or from parameters
       exceeds	PATH_MAX  or a pathname component is longer than NAME_MAX.  Indicates either that the system file table is full, or that there are
       too many files currently open in the system.  A component of either path does not exist, or either path is the empty string,  or  the  file
       named  by  the  from  parameter	does  not exist.  The directory that would contain to cannot be extended because the file system is out of
       space.  The from parameter names a directory and the to parameter names a nondirectory.	The S_ISVTX flag is set on the directory  contain-
       ing  the  file to be renamed, and the caller is not the file owner.  The requested operation requires writing in a directory on a read-only
       file system.  The link named by the to parameter and the file named by the from parameter are on different file systems.

RELATED INFORMATION

       Commands: chmod(1), mkdir(1), mv(1), mvdir(1)

       Functions: chmod(2), link(2), mkdir(2), rmdir(2), unlink(2)

       Standards: standards(5) delim off

																	 rename(2)