RENAME Function

Renames a member of a SAS library, an entry in a SAS catalog, an external file, or a directory.

Categories:	External Files
Categories:	SAS File I/O

Table of Contents

Syntax

RENAME(old-name, new-name <, type <, description <, password <, generation>>>>)

Required Arguments

old-name

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression that is the current name of a member of a SAS library, an entry in a SAS catalog, an external file, or an external directory.

For a data set, old-name can be a one-level or two-level name. For a catalog entry, old-name can be a one-level, two-level, or four-level name. For an external file or directory, old-name must be the full pathname of the file or the directory. If the value for old-name is not specified, then SAS uses the current directory.

new-name

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression that is the new one-level name for the library member, catalog entry, external file, or directory.

Optional Arguments

type

is a character constant, variable, or expression that specifies the type of element to rename. Type can be a null argument, or another value.

Here are valid values:

ACCESS	specifies a SAS/ACCESS descriptor that was created using SAS/ACCESS software.
CATALOG	specifies a SAS catalog or catalog entry.
DATA	specifies a SAS data set.
VIEW	specifies a SAS data set view.
FILE	specifies an external file or directory.

Default	'DATA'

description

specifies a character constant, variable, or expression that is the description of a catalog entry. You can specify description only when the value of type is CATALOG. Description can be a null argument.

password

is a character constant, variable, or expression that specifies the password for the data set that is being renamed. Password can be a null argument.

generation

is a numeric constant, variable, or expression that specifies the generation number of the data set that is being renamed. Generation can be a null argument.

Details

You can use the RENAME function to rename members of a SAS library or entries in a SAS catalog. SAS returns 0 if the operation was successful, and a value other than 0 if the operation was not successful.

To rename an entry in a catalog, specify the four-level name for old-name and a one-level name for new-name. You must specify CATALOG for type when you rename an entry in a catalog.

Operating Environment Information: The RENAME function works correctly for renaming data sets that reside on one volume. It does not rename data sets that span multiple volumes. SAS does not issue an error if you use the RENAME function to rename a data set that resides on multiple volumes. The return code that SAS issues might not be valid if you are renaming a data set that resides on more than one volume.

Examples

Example 1: Renaming Data Sets and Catalog Entries

The following examples rename a SAS data set from Data1 to Data2, and also rename a catalog entry from A.SCL to B.SCL.

rc1=rename('mylib.data1', 'data2');
rc2=rename('mylib.mycat.a.scl', 'b', 'catalog');

Example 2: Renaming an External File

The following examples rename external files.

/* Rename a file that is located in another directory. */
rc=rename('/local/u/testdir/first',
          '/local/u/second', 'file');
   /* Rename a PC file. */
rc=rename('d:\temp', 'd:\testfile', 'file');

   /* Rename a file that is located in another directory. */
rc=rename('/local/u/testdir/first',
          '/local/u/second', 'file');
   /* Rename a PC file. */
rc=rename('d:\temp', 'd:\testfile', 'file');

Example 3: Renaming a Directory

The following example renames a directory in the UNIX operating environment.

rc=rename('/local/u/testdir/', '/local/u/oldtestdir', 'file');

rc=rename('/local/u/testdir/', '/local/u/oldtestdir', 'file');

Example 4: Renaming a Generation Data Set

The following example renames the generation data set Work.One to Work.Two, where the password for Work.One#003 is my-password.

rc=rename('work.one', 'two',,, 3,'my-password');

rc=rename('work.one', 'two',,, 3,'my-password');