std::rename

 

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Defined in header <cstdio>
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.

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

Return value

​0​ upon success or non-zero value on error.

Notes

POSIX specifies many additional details on the semantics of this function, which are reproduced in C++ by std::filesystem::rename.

Example

Run this code

#include <cstdio>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    if (!std::ofstream("from.txt").put('a')) // create and write to file
    {
        std::perror("Error creating from.txt");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
 
    if (std::rename("from.txt", "to.txt"))
    {
        std::perror("Error renaming");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
 
    std::cout << std::ifstream("to.txt").rdbuf() << '\n'; // print file
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Output:

a

See also

rename (C++17)	moves or renames a file or directory (function)
remove	erases a file (function)
C documentation for rename