PHP Rename File (original) (raw)

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to rename a file in PHP by using the rename() function.

Introduction to the PHP rename file function #

To rename a file to the new one, you use the rename() function:

rename ( string <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>o</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>d</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>m</mi><mi>e</mi><mo separator="true">,</mo><mi>s</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>g</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">oldname , string </annotation></semantics></math>oldname,stringnewname , resource $context = ? ) : boolCode language: PHP (php)

The rename() function has three parameters:

$oldname is the name of the file that you want to rename.
$newname is the new name of the file.
$context is a valid context resource

The rename() function returns true if the $oldname file is renamed successfully or false otherwise.

If the $oldname file and $newname has a different directory, the rename() function will move the file from the current directory to the new one and rename the file.

Note that in case the $newname file already exists, the rename() function will overwrite it by the $oldname file.

PHP rename file examples #

Let’s take some examples of renaming a file in PHP

1) Simple PHP rename file example #

The following example uses the rename() function to rename the readme.txt file to readme_v2.txt file in the same directory:

`<?php

$oldname = 'readme.txt'; $newname = 'readme_v2.txt';

if (rename($oldname, $newname)) { $message = sprintf( 'The file %s was renamed to %s successfully!', $oldname, $newname ); } else { $message = sprintf( 'There was an error renaming file %s', $oldname ); }

echo $message; `Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

2) Rename and move the file #

The following example uses the rename() function to move the readme.txt to the public directory and rename it to readme_v3.txt:

`<?php

$oldname = 'readme.txt'; $newname = 'public/readme_v3.txt';

echo $message;`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

3) PHP rename multiple files helper function #

The following example defines a function that allows you to rename multiple files. The rename_files() function renames the files that match a pattern. It replaces a substring in the filenames with a new string.

`<?php

function rename_files(string pattern,stringpattern, string pattern,stringsearch, string $replace) : array { paths=glob(paths = glob(paths=glob(pattern);

$results = [];

foreach ($paths as $path) {
    // check if the pathname is a file
    if (!is_file($path)) {
        <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>u</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>s</mi><mo stretchy="false">[</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">results[</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">res</span><span class="mord mathnormal">u</span><span class="mord mathnormal">lt</span><span class="mord mathnormal">s</span><span class="mopen">[</span></span></span></span>path] = false;
        continue;
    }
    // get the dir and filename
 <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>d</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>m</mi><mi>e</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>m</mi><mi>e</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">dirname = dirname(</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.6944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">d</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02778em;">r</span><span class="mord mathnormal">nam</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span><span class="mrel">=</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">d</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02778em;">r</span><span class="mord mathnormal">nam</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mopen">(</span></span></span></span>path);
 <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>f</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>m</mi><mi>e</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>b</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>m</mi><mi>e</mi><mo stretchy="false">(</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">filename = basename(</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.10764em;">f</span><span class="mord mathnormal">i</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">l</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord mathnormal">nam</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span><span class="mrel">=</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span></span><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">ba</span><span class="mord mathnormal">se</span><span class="mord mathnormal">nam</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mopen">(</span></span></span></span>path);

    // replace <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>s</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>c</mi><mi>h</mi><mi>b</mi><mi>y</mi></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">search by </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">se</span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal">rc</span><span class="mord mathnormal">hb</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.03588em;">y</span></span></span></span>replace in the filename
 <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>n</mi><mi>e</mi><msub><mi>w</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mi>a</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>h</mi><mo>=</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">new_path = </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.9805em;vertical-align:-0.2861em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">n</span><span class="mord mathnormal">e</span><span class="mord"><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.02691em;">w</span><span class="msupsub"><span class="vlist-t vlist-t2"><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.1514em;"><span style="top:-2.55em;margin-left:-0.0269em;margin-right:0.05em;"><span class="pstrut" style="height:2.7em;"></span><span class="sizing reset-size6 size3 mtight"><span class="mord mathnormal mtight">p</span></span></span></span><span class="vlist-s"></span></span><span class="vlist-r"><span class="vlist" style="height:0.2861em;"><span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal">t</span><span class="mord mathnormal">h</span><span class="mspace" style="margin-right:0.2778em;"></span><span class="mrel">=</span></span></span></span>dirname . '/' . str_replace($search, <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>p</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>c</mi><mi>e</mi><mo separator="true">,</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">replace, </annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:0.8889em;vertical-align:-0.1944em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">re</span><span class="mord mathnormal" style="margin-right:0.01968em;">pl</span><span class="mord mathnormal">a</span><span class="mord mathnormal">ce</span><span class="mpunct">,</span></span></span></span>filename);

    // check if the new file exists
    if (file_exists($new_path)) {
        <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>u</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>s</mi><mo stretchy="false">[</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">results[</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">res</span><span class="mord mathnormal">u</span><span class="mord mathnormal">lt</span><span class="mord mathnormal">s</span><span class="mopen">[</span></span></span></span>path] = false;
        continue;
    }

    // rename the file
 <span class="katex"><span class="katex-mathml"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><semantics><mrow><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>u</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>s</mi><mo stretchy="false">[</mo></mrow><annotation encoding="application/x-tex">results[</annotation></semantics></math></span><span class="katex-html" aria-hidden="true"><span class="base"><span class="strut" style="height:1em;vertical-align:-0.25em;"></span><span class="mord mathnormal">res</span><span class="mord mathnormal">u</span><span class="mord mathnormal">lt</span><span class="mord mathnormal">s</span><span class="mopen">[</span></span></span></span>path] = rename($path, $new_path);
}
return $results;

}`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

How it works.

First, get the paths that match a pattern by using the glob() function. The glob() function returns an array of files (or directories) that match a pattern.
Second, for each path, check if it is a file before renaming.

The following uses the replace_files() function to rename all the *.md files in the pages directory to the *.html files:

`<?php

rename_files('pages/*.md', '.md', '.html');`Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Summary #

Use the PHP rename() file function to rename a file.

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