Help Renaming a Remote File

[hassr]

Suppose I have a file called foo.pdf stored in course files. How do I rename it to bar.pdf?

I know how to copy the file, but I only want to change the file's display_name property. Thanks in advance!

[bennettscience]

This looks like a gap in the File object in the library. There are a couple ways you can do this:

1. Use the Canvas module to first get the file and then update:

from canvasapi import Canvas
canvas = Canvas(URL, KEY)

# Getting the file this way allows you to confirm you have the right one
# before moving on with the rename. If it's part of a larger script, you
# can also use the included methods on the File object in the library.
# https://canvasapi.readthedocs.io/en/stable/file-ref.html#canvasapi.file.File

file = canvas.get_file(123456)
updated_file = file._requester.request("PUT", "files/{}".format(file.id), name="New display name")

updated_file.json() # should have updated data

The benefit of this method is that you can confirm which file you're updating before actually sending the update.

2. Use a standalone Requester instance

Since you need the file ID before making the update, you can also just create a standalone Requester object and do the same thing:

from canvasapi.requester import Requester
requester = Requester(URL, KEY)

updated_file = requester.request("PUT", "files/123456", name="New display name")

updated_file.json() # updated information

You have to build then request manually either way, so depending on your context, this may be cleaner for one-off renames.

[hassr]

Ok, that worked like a charm! Would a similar request work with the parameters lock_at, unlock_at, locked, and hidden?

[bennettscience]

Yep, you can pass any of the arguments in each Canvas endpoint as keyword args in .request().