ren (command)

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 can also move a file to a new path, if it is on the same device. 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.

ren / rename
The ReactOS ren command
Operating systemOpenVOS, RT-11, RSX-11, OS/8, 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
TypeCommand

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.

Stratus OpenVOS,[10] DEC RT-11,[11] RSX-11, OS/8,[12] Intel ISIS-II,[13] iRMX 86,[14] TOPS-20,[15] Zilog Z80-RIO,[16] TSC FLEX,[17] Microware OS-9,[18] DR FlexOS,[19] IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS,[20] HP MPE/iX,[21] THEOS/OASIS,[22] and OpenVMS[23] 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.[24] On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later.[25] DR DOS 6.0 also includes an implementation of the ren and rename commands.[26]

In Windows PowerShell, ren is a predefined command alias for the Rename-Item Cmdlet which basically serves the same purpose.[27]

TSL PC-MOS includes an implementation of rename.[28] Like the rest of the operating system, it is licensed under the GPL v3.[29]

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"
gollark: I should have an acronym!
gollark: Maybe. I think most of the time is spent in stuff like running the minifiers.
gollark: Besides, that's asynchronous so it doesn't matter if it's hilariously slow.
gollark: Done!
gollark: Imagining...

See also

References
  1. https://archive.org/details/1988-rugheimer-spanik-amigados-quick-reference
  2. http://www.cpm.z80.de/manuals/cpm22-m.pdf
  3. Digital Research (July 1981) [1979]. MP/M - Multi-Programming Monitor Control Program - User's Guide (PDF) (4 ed.). Pacific Grove, CA, USA: Digital Research. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  4. Digital Research (1981-09-25). MP/M-86 Operating System - User's Guide (PDF) (1 ed.). Pacific Grove, CA, USA: Digital Research. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  5. CDOS USER'S MANUAL
  6. https://www.pagetable.com/docs/amigados_tripos/tripos_manuals.pdf
  7. http://www.jatomes.com/Help/Os2Cmd.php#RENAME
  8. "Microsoft TechNet Rename (ren) article".
  9. https://github.com/reactos/reactos/blob/master/base/shell/cmd/ren.c
  10. http://stratadoc.stratus.com/vos/19.1.0/r098-19/wwhelp/wwhimpl/common/html/r098-19.pdf
  11. http://paleoferrosaurus.com/beta/documents/rt11help.html#RENAME
  12. "Concise Command Language" (CCL)."OS/8 Handbook" (PDF). April 1974. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  13. ISIS II Users Guide
  14. iRMX™86 INTRODUCTION AND OPERATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL For Release 6
  15. "TOPS-20 Command manual" (PDF).
  16. Z80-RIO OPERATING SYSTEM USER'S MANUAL
  17. FLEX 2.0 User's Manual
  18. Paul S. Dayan (1992). The OS-9 Guru - 1 : The Facts. Galactic Industrial Limited. ISBN 0-9519228-0-7.
  19. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/digitalResearch/flexos/1073-2003_FlexOS_Users_Guide_V1.3_Nov86.pdf
  20. https://archive.org/details/4690OSV6r2UsersGuide/page/n169
  21. MPE/iX Command Reference Manual
  22. THEOS/OASIS User′s Handbook
  23. OpenVMS User's Manual
  24. 86-DOS - Disk Operating System for the 8086 - User's Manual (PDF). Version 0.3 (Preliminary ed.). Seattle, Washington, USA: Seattle Computer Products, Inc. 1980. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2019-07-14. (59 pages)
  25. Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.
  26. DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips
  27. "Microsoft TechNet PowerShell Rename-Item (ren) article".
  28. PC-MOS User Guide
  29. Jansen, Roeland (8 February 2018). "pcmos386v501: PC-MOS/386 v5.01 final release including cdrom driver sources" – via GitHub.

Further reading
  • Wolverton, Van (1990). MS-DOS Commands: Microsoft Quick Reference, 4th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. 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.
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