`movefile`

Moves or renames a file or folder.

Category: Programming > Files and Folders

Syntax

movefile(source, destination)

Moves source to destination.

[status, message, messageid] = movefile(___)

Returns the outcome of the move.

Description

A move within one drive is a rename, so it is fast and keeps the content intact. If destination is a folder that exists, the item keeps its name inside it; otherwise the item takes the new name, which is how a file is renamed.

The source no longer exists after a successful move. To keep it, use copyfile.

Input arguments

source: File, folder or wildcard pattern.
destination: New name, or an existing folder to move into.

Output arguments

status: true when the move succeeded.
message: Text describing the problem; empty on success.
messageid: Message identifier; empty on success.

Example

Renaming, then moving into a folder

writelines('v1', 'draft.txt');
mkdir archive
movefile('draft.txt', 'final.txt');
movefile('final.txt', 'archive');
[isfile('draft.txt'), isfile('final.txt'), isfile('archive/final.txt')]

Output

ans = 1×3 logical array

   0   0   1

movefile