Ruby - Rename a Directory

1. Introduction

Renaming directories is a common operation in file system management. In Ruby, the process of renaming a directory is made easy with the help of the Dir and File classes. This guide will walk you through the steps to rename a directory in Ruby.

Renaming a directory means changing its current name to a new name while keeping its content intact. This operation is useful in various scenarios, such as reorganizing files, improving the naming convention, or correcting spelling mistakes.

2. Program Steps

1. Load the required library/module.

2. Define the current directory name/path and the new directory name/path.

3. Use the rename method from the File class to rename the directory.

4. Handle any potential errors using exception handling.

3. Code Program

# Define the current directory name and the new directory name
current_dir_name = "old_directory"
new_dir_name = "new_directory_name"
# Rename the directory
begin
  File.rename(current_dir_name, new_dir_name)
  puts "Directory renamed successfully from '#{current_dir_name}' to '#{new_dir_name}'!"
rescue SystemCallError => e
  puts "Directory renaming failed: #{e.message}"
end

Output:

Directory renamed successfully from 'old_directory' to 'new_directory_name'!
Or
Directory renaming failed: [Error message depending on the issue]

Explanation:

1. current_dir_name = "old_directory" and new_dir_name = "new_directory_name": Here, we define the current name of the directory and the name to which we want to rename it.

2. The File.rename(current_dir_name, new_dir_name) method is used to rename the directory.

3. We use begin..rescue for exception handling to handle any potential errors, such as if the directory doesn't exist, if the new name already exists, or if there are permission issues.