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Name statement

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Renames a disk file, directory, or folder.

Syntax

Name oldpathname As newpathname

The Name statement syntax has these parts:

Part Description
oldpathname Required. String expression that specifies the existing file name and location; may include directory or folder, and drive.
newpathname Required. String expression that specifies the new file name and location; may include directory or folder, and drive. The file name specified by newpathname can't already exist.

Remarks

The Name statement renames a file and moves it to a different directory or folder, if necessary. Name can move a file across drives, but it can only rename an existing directory or folder when both newpathname and oldpathname are located on the same drive. Name cannot create a new file, directory, or folder.

Using Name on an open file produces an error. You must close an open file before renaming it. Name arguments cannot include multiple-character (*) and single-character (?) wildcards.

Example

This example uses the Name statement to rename a file. For purposes of this example, assume that the directories or folders that are specified already exist. On the Macintosh, "HD:" is the default drive name, and portions of the pathname are separated by colons instead of backslashes.

Dim oldName, newName 
oldName = "OLDFILE": newName = "NEWFILE" ' Define file names. 
Name oldName As newName ' Rename file. 
 
oldName = "C:\MYDIR\OLDFILE": newName = "C:\YOURDIR\NEWFILE" 
Name oldName As newName ' Move and rename file.

See also

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