Recipe12.12.Renaming a Directory

Recipe 12.12. Renaming a Directory

Problem

You need to rename a directory.

Solution

Unfortunately, there is no specific rename method that can be used to rename a directory. However, you can use the instance MoveTo method of the DirectoryInfo class or the static Move method of the Directory class instead. The static Move method can be used to rename a directory in the following manner:

 public static void DemonstrateRenameDir(string originalName, string newName) {     try     {         Directory.CreateDirectory(originalName);         // "Rename" it.         Directory.Move(originalName, newName);     }     catch(IOException ioe)     {         // Most likely given the directory exists or isn't empty         Console.WriteLine(ioe.ToString( ));     }     catch(Exception e)     {         // Catch any other exceptions.         Console.WriteLine(e.ToString( ));     } }

This code creates a directory using the originalName parameter and renames it to the value supplied in the newName parameter.

The instance MoveTo method of the DirectoryInfo class can also be used to rename a directory in the following manner:

 public static void DemonstrateRenameDir (string originalName, string newName) {     try     {         DirectoryInfo dirInfo = new DirectoryInfo(originalName);         // Create the dir.         dirInfo.Create( );         // "Rename" it.         dirInfo.MoveTo(newName);     }     catch(IOException ioe)     {         // Most likely because the directory exists or isn't empty         Console.WriteLine(ioe.ToString( ));     }     catch(Exception e)     {         // Catch any other exceptions.         Console.WriteLine(e.ToString( ));     } }

This code creates a directory using the originalName parameter and renames it to the value supplied in the newName parameter.

Discussion

The Move and MoveTo methods allow a directory to be moved to a different location. However, when the path remains unchanged up to the directory that will have its name changed, the Move methods act as Rename methods.