FreeDOS help system (hhstndrd 1.0.8 en)[ren]

Command: ren

REN renames a file/directory or files/directories.

Syntax:

REN [drive][path][directoryname1 | filename1] [directoryname2 | filename2] drive The drive letter, e.g. C: path The directory, e.g. \example\ , complete: "C:\example\" directoryname1 The name of the old subdirectory, e.g. \dir_old , complete: "C:\example\dir_old" directoryname2 The name of the new subdirectory, e.g. dir_new , complete: "dir_new" filename1 The old filename, e.g. \old_file.txt complete: "C:\example\old_file.txt" filename2 The new filename, e.g. new_file.txt complete: "new_file.txt"

Options:

- none -

Comments:

You can also use RENAME instead of REN. Note that you cannot specify a new drive or path for your destination. Use the MOVE command for that purpose. You can use wildcards (* and ?) to specify a set of files. If you use wildcards in filename1, you must use wildcards in the same position in filename2. In pure DOS the directory name must not be longer than 8 letters. Filenames use 8.3 means: 8 letters for the name, 3 letters for ending, e.g. example1.txt. REN is a command internal to command.com and needs no other file in order to work.

Examples:

ren C:\example\dir_old dir_new ren C:\example\old_file.txt new_file.txt

See also:

move rename ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright (C) 1998 Jim Hall, updated 2007 by W. Spiegl. This file is derived from the FreeDOS Spec Command HOWTO. See the file H2Cpying for copying conditions.