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+--- Thread: Tip: use name function instead of cmd shell move (/showthread.php?tid=1601)
Tip: use name function instead of cmd shell move - doppler - 04-03-2023
It's not so obvious, but it's night/day difference using "name" function instead of cmd shelling out to "Move" a file. My main use of using the "name" function is to rename files inside of a directory. And so for a majority of others too.
Things to remember be in one of the two directories. "CHDir" use the "..\name-of-file" to move to present or other directory (reversible command). ie: name "..\name-of-file" as "name-of-file". example moves other file in directory to present chdir. It's possible to rename the destination file to something else like: "new-name-of-file" Twice the work for a single function.
PS.
It really is night n day difference.
Thought i would share. B4 you comment. Using name function to move is a benefit only to people who read deeply in the help records.
RE: Tip: use name function instead of cmd shell move - RhoSigma - 04-03-2023
For sure that's something which many people are not aware of, although its mentioned at the Wiki page https://qb64phoenix.com/qb64wiki/index.php/NAME
However, be careful that both paths are on the same drive or you risk a "Rename across disks" error. Not sure if this is still valid for QB64, but QBasic did error out when you tried to move a file from one to another drive. https://qb64phoenix.com/qb64wiki/index.php/ERROR_Codes
RE: Tip: use name function instead of cmd shell move - doppler - 04-03-2023
(04-03-2023, 10:46 PM)RhoSigma Wrote: or you risk a "Rename across disks" error.
Point taken. Better off using a program to move it off disk, and or rename it then.
RE: Tip: use name function instead of cmd shell move - mnrvovrfc - 04-04-2023
This is for historical reasons. On Unix, and on MS-DOS beginning in v2, a directory is actually a file which only has information about other files. Therefore "renaming" a file inside a directory a child of the "root", to the computer is like changing a word in a text file. The "root" directory, however, was handled quite differently at least in MS-DOS; it had a limited number of entries stored directly into the FAT or something like that.
It would have been irritating if M$ came up with "NAME" for QuickBASIC/BASIC PDS and it wasn't possible to move a file from one child directory to another, and instead had to copy to destination, verify destination and then delete source. Programmers would have insisted on the quirk which really isn't.