NAME

std::rename - std::rename

Synopsis

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 <iostream>
#include <fstream>
#include <cstdio>
int main()
{
bool ok{std::ofstream("from.txt").put('a')}; // create and write to file
if (!ok) {
std::perror("Error creating from.txt");
return 1;
}

if (std::rename("from.txt", "to.txt")) {
std::perror("Error renaming");
return 1;
}

std::cout << std::ifstream("to.txt").rdbuf() << '\n'; // print file
}

Output:

a

See also

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