rename(1)                                                  rename(1)


       NAME
             rename - change the name of a file

       SYNOPSIS
             rename old new

       DESCRIPTION
             rename renames a file.  old is the pathname of the file or
             directory to be renamed.  new is the new pathname of the file
             or directory.  Both old and new must be of the same type
             (either both files, or both directories) and must reside on
             the same file system.

             If new already exists, it is removed.  Thus, if new names an
             existing directory, the directory must not have any entries
             other than, possibly, ``.'' and ``..''.  When renaming
             directories, the new pathname must not name a descendant of
             old.  The implementation of rename ensures that upon
             successful completion a link named new will always exist.

             If the final component of old is a symbolic link, the symbolic
             link is renamed, not the file or directory to which it points.

             Write permission is required for both the directory containing
             old and the directory containing new.

       NOTES
             The system can deadlock if there is a loop in the file system
             graph.  Such a loop takes the form of an entry in directory a,
             say a/foo, being a hard link to directory b, and an entry in
             directory b, say b/bar, being a hard link to directory a.
             When such a loop exists and two separate processes attempt to
             perform rename a/foo b/bar and rename b/bar a/foo,
             respectively, the system may deadlock attempting to lock both
             directories for modification.  The system administrator should
             replace hard links to directories by symbolic links.

       REFERENCES
             link(2), rename(2), unlink(2)









                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1