Renaming the current file in Vim

vim vi
Sam Saffron picture Sam Saffron · Jul 30, 2009 · Viewed 206.8k times · Source

How should I rename my current file in Vim?

For example:

  • I am editing person.html_erb_spec.rb
  • I would like it renamed to person.haml_spec.rb
  • I would like to continue editing person.haml_spec.rb

How would I go about doing this, elegantly?

Answer

soulmerge picture soulmerge · Jul 30, 2009

The command is called :saveas, but unfortunately it will not delete your old file, you'll have to do that manually. see :help saveas for more info.

EDIT:

Most vim installations have an integrated file explorer, which you can use for such operations. Try :Explore in command mode (I would actually map that to a function key, it's very handy). You can rename files with R or delete them with D, for example. But pressing <F1> in the explorer will give you a better overview.

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