A few folks have asked “how do I simply rename a local file in Cordova?” Well, to start, you’ll need the file plugin from Apache Cordova. If you don’t already have this, run the below to add the file plugin.

cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.core.file

Then, you can use the “moveTo” function to rename the file. Below is a reusable function I utilize to pass the current file name, directory, the new file name and a function that happens when the rename is successful.

You can utilize the below function like:

//to call the function. 'renameSuccess' is an function that is used as the success event if the rename is okay
renameFile('somefile.xml','myapp/xml/','new.xml', renameSuccess);

//the function
function renameFile(currentName, currentDir, newName, successFunction) {

    window.requestFileSystem(LocalFileSystem.PERSISTENT, 0, function (fileSystem) {

        fileSystem.root.getFile(currentDir + currentName, null, function (fileEntry) {
            fileSystem.root.getDirectory(currentDir, {create: true}, function (dirEntry) {
                parentEntry = new DirectoryEntry(currentName, currentDir + currentName);

                fileEntry.moveTo(dirEntry, newName, function () {

                    successFunction();

                }, renameFail);
            }, renameFail);
        }, renameFail);

    }, renameFail);
}

//and the sample success function
function renameSuccess() {
    alert('renamed!');
}

//and the sample fail function
function renameFail() {
    alert('failed');
}

I’m not saying this is the ‘best’ way to do this, so feel free to comment on improvements!