Software:ren (command)

From HandWiki

ren / rename
ReactOS-0.4.13 ren command 667x434.png
The ReactOS ren command
Developer(s)Various open-source and commercial developers
Operating systemOpenVOS, RT-11, OS/8, RSX-11, ISIS-II, iRMX 86, TOPS-20, Z80-RIO, FLEX, CDOS, OS-9, FlexOS, PC-MOS, 4690 OS, MPE/iX, THEOS/OASIS, OpenVMS, CP/M, MP/M, TRIPOS, AmigaDOS, DOS, MSX-DOS, SISNE plus, OS/2, Windows, ReactOS, SymbOS, DexOS
PlatformCross-platform
TypeCommand

In computing, ren (or rename) is a command in various command-line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM, cmd.exe, 4DOS, 4NT and Windows PowerShell. It is used to rename computer files and in some implementations (such as AmigaDOS[1]) also directories. It is analogous to the Unix mv command. However, unlike mv, ren cannot be used to move files, as a new directory for the destination file may not be used. Alternatively, move may be used if available. On versions of MS-DOS that do not support the move command (older than 6.00), the user would simply copy the file to a new destination, and then delete the original file. A notable exception to this rule is DOSBox, in which ren may be used to move a file, since move is not supported.

Implementations

Description of the RENAME command of RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100.

The command is available in the operating systems Digital Research CP/M,[2] MP/M,[3][4] Cromemco CDOS,[5] MetaComCo TRIPOS,[6] DOS, IBM OS/2,[7] Microsoft Windows,[8] ReactOS,[9] SymbOS, and DexOS.

Multics includes a rename command to rename a directory entry. It can be contracted to rn.[10]

Stratus OpenVOS,[11] DEC RT-11,[12] OS/8,[13] RSX-11,[14] Intel ISIS-II,[15] iRMX 86,[16] TOPS-20,[17] Zilog Z80-RIO,[18] TSC FLEX,[19] Microware OS-9,[20] DR FlexOS,[21] IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS,[22] HP MPE/iX,[23] THEOS/OASIS,[24] and OpenVMS[25] also provide the rename command which in some cases can be contracted to ren.

The rename command is supported by Tim Paterson's SCP 86-DOS.[26] On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later.[27] DR DOS 6.0 also includes an implementation of the ren and rename commands.[28]

In Windows PowerShell, ren is a predefined command alias for the Rename-Item Cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.[29]

TSL PC-MOS includes an implementation of rename.[30] Like the rest of the operating system, it is licensed under the GPL v3.[31]

It is also available in the open source MS-DOS emulator DOSBox.

Example

>ren filename newname
>ren *.htm *.html

Another example. This will rename a default video found in Windows 7 with a new name:

>rename "C:\Users\Public\Videos\Sample Videos\Wildlife.wmv" "Wildlife2.wmv"

The first parameter may contain a drive and a path, but the second parameter must contain only the new filename.

To remove certain characters of a file name in Microsoft Windows command prompt (XP & Higher) :

>rename "abcd*.txt" "////*.txt"

This will remove abcd from the file name.

Notes:

  1. Same number of / as the number of initial characters to remove.
  2. Double quotes for both arguments.
  3. It doesn't remove . from file name


See also

References

  1. Rügheimer, Hannes; Spanik, Christian (September 19, 1988). AmigaDOS quick reference. Grand Rapids, Mi : Abacus. ISBN 9781557550491. https://archive.org/details/1988-rugheimer-spanik-amigados-quick-reference. 
  2. "Manual". http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/cpm22-m.pdf. 
  3. Digital Research (July 1981). MP/M - Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program - User's Guide (4 ed.). Pacific Grove, CA, USA: Digital Research. http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/mpm1ug01.pdf. Retrieved 2017-01-04. 
  4. Digital Research (1981-09-25). MP/M-86 Operating System - User's Guide (1 ed.). Pacific Grove, CA, USA: Digital Research. http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/digitalResearch/mpm-86/MPM-86_Users_Guide_Sep81.pdf. Retrieved 2017-01-04. 
  5. CDOS USER'S MANUAL
  6. "Manual". https://www.pagetable.com/docs/amigados_tripos/tripos_manuals.pdf. 
  7. "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands". http://www.jatomes.com/Help/Os2Cmd.php#RENAME. 
  8. "Microsoft TechNet Rename (ren) article". 11 September 2009. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490987.aspx. 
  9. "reactos/reactos". 3 January 2022. https://github.com/reactos/reactos. 
  10. "Multics Commands". https://www.multicians.org/multics-commands.html. 
  11. "Manual". http://stratadoc.stratus.com/vos/19.1.0/r098-19/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/r098-19.pdf. 
  12. "RT-11 HELP FILE". http://paleoferrosaurus.com/beta/documents/rt11help.html#RENAME. 
  13. "Concise Command Language" (CCL)."OS/8 Handbook". April 1974. http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/dec/pdp8/os8/OS8_Handbook_Apr1974.pdf. 
  14. John F. Pieper (1987). RSX A Guide for Users. Digital Equipment Corporation. ISBN 0-932376-90-8. http://www.rsx11m.com/rsxguide.pdf. Retrieved 2020-09-19. 
  15. ISIS II Users Guide
  16. iRMX™86 INTRODUCTION AND OPERATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL For Release 6
  17. "TOPS-20 Command manual". http://www.textfiles.com/bitsavers/pdf/dec/pdp10/TOPS20/V6.1/AA-FP65A-TM_tops20CmdsRef.pdf. 
  18. Z80-RIO OPERATING SYSTEM USER'S MANUAL
  19. "FLEX 2.0 User's Manual". http://www.flexusergroup.com/flexusergroup/pdfs/flex2um.pdf. 
  20. Paul S. Dayan (1992). The OS-9 Guru - 1 : The Facts. Galactic Industrial Limited. ISBN 0-9519228-0-7. 
  21. "FlexOS User's Guide". 1986. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalResearch/flexos/1073-2003_FlexOS_Users_Guide_V1.3_Nov86.pdf. 
  22. "Users guide" (PDF). https://archive.org/details/4690OSV6r2UsersGuide/page/n169. 
  23. "MPE/iX Command Reference Manual". http://www.teamnaconsulting.com/compresources/pdfs/c01687363.pdf. 
  24. THEOS/OASIS User's Handbook
  25. OpenVMS User's Manual[yes|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  26. 86-DOS - Disk Operating System for the 8086 - User's Manual (Preliminary ed.). Seattle, Washington, USA: Seattle Computer Products, Inc.. 1980. http://www.patersontech.com/Dos/docs/86_Dos_usr_03.pdf. Retrieved 2019-07-14.  (59 pages)
  27. Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. 2003. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7. 
  28. DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips
  29. "Microsoft TechNet PowerShell Rename-Item (ren) article". 22 October 2009. https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee176940.aspx. 
  30. PC-MOS User Guide
  31. Jansen, Roeland (8 February 2018). "pcmos386v501: PC-MOS/386 v5.01 final release including cdrom driver sources". https://github.com/roelandjansen/pcmos386v501. 

Further reading

  • MS-DOS Commands: Microsoft Quick Reference, 4th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. 1990. ISBN 978-1556152894. 
  • Kathy Ivens; Brian Proffit (1993). OS/2 Inside & Out. Osborne McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0078818714. 
  • Frisch, Æleen (2001). Windows 2000 Commands Pocket Reference. O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0-596-00148-3. 

External links