RENAME(2) BSD RENAME(2)
NAME
rename - change the name of a file
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
int rename(from, to)
const char *from, *to;
DESCRIPTION
rename causes the link named from to be renamed to. If a file named to
already exists, then it is first removed. Both from and to must be of
the same type (that is, both directories or both non-directories), and
must reside on the same file system.
rename guarantees that an instance of to will always exist, even if the
system should crash in the middle of the operation.
If the final component of from is a symbolic link, the symbolic link is
renamed, not the file or directory to which it points.
ERRORS
rename will fail and neither of the argument files will be affected if
any of the following are true:
[ENAMETOOLONG]
A component of either pathname exceeded 255 characters, or the
entire length of either pathname exceeded 1023 characters.
[ENOENT] A component of the from path does not exist, or a path prefix
or to does not exist or either path points to an empty string.
[EACCES] A component of either path prefix denies search permission.
[EACCES] The requested link requires writing in a directory with a mode
that denies write permission.
[ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating either
pathname.
[ENOTDIR] A component of either path prefix is not a directory.
[ENOTDIR] from is a directory, but to is not a directory.
[EISDIR] to is a directory, but from is not a directory.
[EXDEV] The link named by to and the file named by from are on
different volumes/devices (file systems).
[ENOSPC] The directory in which the entry for the new name is being
placed cannot be extended because there is no space left on the
file system containing the directory.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while making or updating a directory
entry.
[EROFS] The requested link requires writing in a directory on a read-
only file system.
[EINVAL] from is a parent directory of to, or an attempt is made to
rename dot (.) or dot-dot (..).
[ENOTEMPTY]
to is a directory and is not empty.
SEE ALSO
open(2)
DIAGNOSTICS
A successful call returns 0. A failed call returns -1 and sets errno as
indicated under "Errors."
NOTES
The following errors, not returned under Domain/OS BSD, may be returned
under other implementations:
[EINVAL] Either pathname contains a character with the high-order
bit set.
[EPERM] The directory containing from is marked "sticky," and
neither the containing directory nor from are owned by
the effective user ID.
[EPERM] The to file exists, the directory containing to is
marked "sticky," and neither the containing directory
nor to are owned by the effective user ID.
[EDQUOT] The directory in which the entry for the new name is
being placed cannot be extended because the user's quota
of disk blocks on the file system containing the
directory has been exhausted.