[bballe336]

I want to rename an application, however when I right click on it and select get info I am unable to change it. Is there a trick? I'm the administrator on this machine by the way.

Thanks for any help!

[Cold Warrior]

Try clicking in the name itself, then wait a second and click again. This should give you the rename text box where you can type in what you want.

What app(s) are you trying to rename?

[bballe336]

That doesn't work, it was the first thing I tried, I am trying to rename RealFlow 4 (it installed as RealFlow for some reason and I want it to say "RealFlow 4").

[Cold Warrior]

When you Get Info, check the permissions for that application. See if you have enough privileges.

[bballe336]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

When you Get Info, check the permissions for that application. See if you have enough privileges.

I have full permissions on everything, which is what's really confusing. Is there any type of application that would allow me to rename it? I've searched but can't find anything.

[Randman]

The application isn't open, is it? Try restarting and then doing it?

[Chuckit]

I can only think of two things that would lead to the symptoms you describe:
1) You don't have write permissions for the enclosing folder
2) The item is locked

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I can only think of two things that would lead to the symptoms you describe:
1) You don't have write permissions for the enclosing folder
2) The item is locked

3) The application is running.

[Chuckit]

You can type in the name field of a running application — the system will just warn you that it's a bad idea (and in that case you wouldn't really need to ask why the dialog appeared anyway).

[analogika]

Egads! You're right!

(Did that used to be the case in 10.4 and earlier, as well?)

[bballe336]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

I can only think of two things that would lead to the symptoms you describe:
1) You don't have write permissions for the enclosing folder
2) The item is locked

I have write permissions for the application, it is not locked, and it is not running, I still cannot change the name though.

[zro]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

1) You don't have write permissions for the enclosing folder

Emphasis mine.

[P]

You can also try getting info for the application and changing the name in that box.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by bballe336 

I want to rename an application, however when I right click on it and select get info I am unable to change it.

Originally Posted by P 

You can also try getting info for the application and changing the name in that box.

Uhm, that's the first thing the PO tried.

-t

[bballe336]

Thanks for the help so far, does anyone have any other suggestions?

[CharlesS]

Try doing it in the Terminal:

(in this example, the path to the app is /path/to/oldname.app. replace it with whatever's appropriate)

cd /path/to
mv oldname.app newname.app

If it works, then the Finder was just being stupid. If it fails, you'll get a message telling you why, thus satisfying your curiosity. If it has something to do with permissions, you can prefix the "mv" command with "sudo" to force it.

[Chuckit]

Actually, you should enclose the names in quotes for the mv command. So it would be:
mv "old name.app" "new name.app"

[CharlesS]

True, you'll need the quotes if the app name has a space in it.

[bballe336]

All I end up with is a directory or file not found error, I have tried numerous combinations of just accountname/applications/.... and harddrive/accountname/applications with no success. I assume I'm doing it wrong, how should the path name by typed out?

[CharlesS]

If it's just in the Applications folder at the root of the drive, the path is /Applications. Otherwise, just type "cd", then a space, then drag the folder that the app is in onto the Terminal window and it'll automatically put the right path in.

[bballe336]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

If it's just in the Applications folder at the root of the drive, the path is /Applications. Otherwise, just type "cd", then a space, then drag the folder that the app is in onto the Terminal window and it'll automatically put the right path in.

Thanks a bunch, that worked, though I had to use the sudo command as it told me permission was denied, which is clearly not right as this is the only administrator account on the system.

[neuonyx]

Originally Posted by bballe336 

Thanks a bunch, that worked, though I had to use the sudo command as it told me permission was denied, which is clearly not right as this is the only administrator account on the system.

Wow, you're an idiot. The problem was you didn't have permissions -- it told you that. An 'administrator account' is an account that has the ability to sudo. NOT an account that has all kinds of crazy permissions. In finder you have to 'authenticate' before you can do this. You 'authenticated' in terminal by using sudo.

[TETENAL]

An administrator should be able to rename applications in the Applications folder without authentification. This is an issue that should be fixed by the "Repair permissions" command of Disk Utility.

[OreoCookie]

Please keep it civilized, neuonyx.

[bballe336]

Originally Posted by neuonyx 

Wow, you're an idiot. The problem was you didn't have permissions -- it told you that. An 'administrator account' is an account that has the ability to sudo. NOT an account that has all kinds of crazy permissions. In finder you have to 'authenticate' before you can do this. You 'authenticated' in terminal by using sudo.

Yes, I'm sure by being the only administrator on the machine I didn't have permissions, and by using my password for this account to confirm the sudo command means that this account doesn't have the permissions right? Get over yourself, no one cares what you have to say after the issue has been resolved.

I repaired permissions and all is fine now.