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rename(2)							     rename(2)

NAME
       rename - Rename 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 industry 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 stan‐
       dards as follows:

       rename(): XSH4.0, XSH4.2, 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 parame‐
       ter. If the to parameter is a nonempty directory, the rename() function
       exits with an error.

DESCRIPTION
       The  rename() function renames a directory or a file within a file sys‐
       tem.

       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
       are directories or both are not directories) 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 parame‐
       ter  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  (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 indi‐
       cate 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.	[Tru64
       UNIX]  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.  [Tru64 UNIX]	 Either the to or from parameter is an invalid
       address.	 Either the from or to parameter is not a  well-formed	direc‐
       tory,  an  attempt  is  made to rename . (dot) or ..  (dot-dot), or the
       from parameter is an ancestor of the  to	 parameter.   A	 physical  I/O
       error occurred.	The to parameter names a directory and the from param‐
       eter names a nondirectory.  Too many links were encountered  in	trans‐
       lating  either  to  or from.  The from parameter is a directory and the
       link  count  of	the  to	 parameter's  parent  directory	 would	exceed
       LINK_MAX.  The length of the to or from parameter exceeds PATH_MAX or a
       pathname component is longer than  NAME_MAX.   [Tru64  UNIX]  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 containing 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.

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

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

       Standards: standards(5)

								     rename(2)
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