Adding else to rename() function

Question

I'm writing a simple rename form that renames the folder name. It works fine, but if the file doesn't exist PHP gives me an error.

<form> 
    <input type="text"  value="folder name you want to rename">
    <input type="submit">
</form>

And this is my PHP code:

<?php
session_start();
$_SESSION['name'] = $_POST['name'];

rename("../folders/".$_POST['name']."","../renamed/new-name");
?>

The code works perfectly, but I want to add an if/else statement because when I run the script for a folder that does not exist, I get this error.

Does not exist

I want to remove the error, and simply output "doesn't exist".

Try to adjust according to [this post](https://stackoverflow.com/a/13045314/7735285), `if (isset($_POST["name"]) && !empty($_POST["name"])) {...` — wpcoder, Sep 02 '17 at 21:37
@wpcoder didn't work with me check the answers and u will know what i mean .. thanks for try btw <3 — reko beko, Sep 02 '17 at 21:48
My comment didn't meant to be a solution, its only a hint to modify your code accordingly. @Rajdeeb did answer the same just in different algorithm. its all about `if else` statement. — wpcoder, Sep 02 '17 at 21:51

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 02 '17 at 21:44

Not sure how you're able to send the form data without any name attribute or how you're able to get the data using $_POST when there's no method attribute included in your form. By default, it would have been sending form data using GET method. I believe you're taking care of all these things.

Now having said that, first check whether that particular directory exists or not, and then rename it accordingly or just prints a message directory doesn't exist if the directory user is trying to rename doesn't exist.

if(file_exists("../folders/".$_POST['name'])){
    rename("../folders/".$_POST['name'],"../renamed/new-name");
}else{
    echo "directory doesn't exist";
}

Here's the reference: http://php.net/manual/en/function.file-exists.php

file_exists — Checks whether a file or directory exists

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 02 '17 at 21:35

1

You could always just use a simple if statement to check that rename() worked, since it returns a boolean (true, or false) value. Read more on PHP manual.

So you could write something along these lines:

if(rename("../folders/".$_POST['name']."","../renamed/new-name"))
{
    echo "Folder renamed";
    // more code...
}
else
{
    echo "Folder does not exist.";
    // more code...
}

answered Sep 02 '17 at 21:35

Sam

2,856
3
18
29

No problem... Let me know if you need any help! – Sam Sep 02 '17 at 21:45

wpcoder · Answer 3 · 2017-09-02T22:01:42.057

if (isset($_POST["name"]) && !empty($_POST["name"]) && file_exists("../folders/".$_POST['name'])) {
$_SESSION['name'] = $_POST['name'];
rename("../folders/".$_POST['name']."","../renamed/new-name")
}
else
{
echo "Folder does not exist.";
//ToDo
}

Just another different simple algorithm.

I rather prefer this algorithm if you need to make rename() more functional and complicated. And it validate the form text box at same time.

For example, if you wish to generate the new name at server's side I would go for this solution.

Adding else to rename() function

3 Answers3