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Rename

Rename a file.

Installation

npm install @stdlib/fs-rename

Alternatively,

• To load the package in a website via a script tag without installation and bundlers, use the ES Module available on the esm branch (see README).
• If you are using Deno, visit the deno branch (see README for usage intructions).
• For use in Observable, or in browser/node environments, use the Universal Module Definition (UMD) build available on the umd branch (see README).
• To use as a general utility for the command line, install the corresponding CLI package globally.

The branches.md file summarizes the available branches and displays a diagram illustrating their relationships.

To view installation and usage instructions specific to each branch build, be sure to explicitly navigate to the respective README files on each branch, as linked to above.

Usage

var rename = require( '@stdlib/fs-rename' );

rename( oldPath, newPath, clbk )

Asynchronously renames a file specified by oldPath to newPath.

var join = require( 'path' ).join;
var oldPath = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'fixtures', 'file.txt' );
var newPath = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'fixtures', 'tmp.txt' );

rename( oldPath, newPath, done );

function done( error ) {
    if ( error ) {
        throw error;
    }
}

rename.sync( oldPath, newPath )

Synchronously renames a file specified by oldPath to newPath.

var join = require( 'path' ).join;
var oldPath = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'fixtures', 'file.txt' );
var newPath = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'fixtures', 'tmp.txt' );

var err = rename.sync( oldPath, newPath );
if ( err instanceof Error ) {
    throw err;
}

Notes

• oldPath can specify a directory. In this case, newPath must either not exist, or it must specify an empty directory.

• oldPath should not name an ancestor directory of newPath.

• If oldPath points to the pathname of a file that is not a directory, newPath should not point to the pathname of a directory.

• Write access permission is required for both the directory containing oldPath and the directory containing newPath.

• If the link named by newPath exists, newPath is removed and oldPath is renamed to newPath. The link named by newPath will remain visible to other threads throughout the renaming operation and refer to either the file referred to by newPath or to the file referred to by oldPath before the operation began.

• If oldPath and newPath resolve to either the same existing directory entry or to different directory entries for the same existing file, no action is taken, and no error is returned.

• If oldPath points to a pathname of a symbolic link, the symbolic link is renamed. If the newPath points to a pathname of a symbolic link, the symbolic link is removed.

• If a link named by newPath exists and the file's link count becomes 0 when it is removed and no process has the file open, the space occupied by the file is freed and the file is no longer accessible. If one or more processes have the file open when the last link is removed, the link is removed before the function returns, but the removal of file contents is postponed until all references to the file are closed.

• The difference between rename.sync and fs.rename() is that fs.renameSync() will throw if an error is encountered (e.g., if given a non-existent path) and this API will return an error. Hence, the following anti-pattern

  var fs = require( 'fs' );
  
  // Check for path existence to prevent an error being thrown...
  if ( fs.existsSync( '/path/to/file.txt' ) ) {
      fs.renameSync( '/path/to/file.txt', '/path/to/tmp.txt' );
  }

  can be replaced by an approach which addresses existence via error handling.

  var rename = require( '@stdlib/fs-rename' );
  
  // Explicitly handle the error...
  var err = rename.sync( '/path/to/file.txt', '/path/to/tmp.txt' );
  if ( err instanceof Error ) {
      // You choose what to do...
      throw err;
  }

Examples

var join = require( 'path' ).join;
var readFile = require( '@stdlib/fs-read-file' ).sync;
var writeFile = require( '@stdlib/fs-write-file' ).sync;
var exists = require( '@stdlib/fs-exists' ).sync;
var unlink = require( '@stdlib/fs-unlink' ).sync;
var rename = require( '@stdlib/fs-rename' ).sync;

var src = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'fixtures', 'file.txt' );
var tmp = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'tmp.txt' );
var dest = join( __dirname, 'examples', 'foo.txt' );

// Create a temporary file:
writeFile( tmp, readFile( src ) );

// Confirm that the temporary file exists:
console.log( exists( tmp ) );
// => true

// Rename the temporary file:
rename( tmp, dest );

// Confirm that the renamed temporary file exists:
console.log( exists( dest ) );
// => true

// Remove the temporary file:
unlink( dest );

// Confirm that the temporary file no longer exists:
console.log( exists( dest ) );
// => false

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CLI

Installation

To use as a general utility, install the CLI package globally

npm install -g @stdlib/fs-rename-cli

Usage

Usage: rename [options] <old_path> <new_path>

Options:

  -h,    --help                Print this message.
  -V,    --version             Print the package version.

Notes

• Relative paths are resolved relative to the current working directory.
• Errors are written to stderr.

Examples

$ rename ./examples/fixtures/file.txt ./examples/fixtures/tmp.txt

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See Also

• @stdlib/fs-exists: test whether a path exists on the filesystem.
• @stdlib/fs-read-file: read the entire contents of a file.
• @stdlib/fs-write-file: write data to a file.
• @stdlib/fs-unlink: remove a directory entry.

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Notice

This package is part of stdlib, a standard library for JavaScript and Node.js, with an emphasis on numerical and scientific computing. The library provides a collection of robust, high performance libraries for mathematics, statistics, streams, utilities, and more.

For more information on the project, filing bug reports and feature requests, and guidance on how to develop stdlib, see the main project repository.

Community

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License

See LICENSE.

Copyright

Copyright © 2016-2025. The Stdlib Authors.