.. _section-Renaming an Identifier

Renaming an Identifier
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The name of an identifier can be changed in the **KB Editor**.  To do this, click to select the identifier whose name is to be changed in the taxonomy window, for example, John.  Click the name change icon or use the right click menu option Rename Identifier to rename the identifier, as shown in :numref:`figure-KB-Editor-rename-identifier.png`.

.. _figure-KB-Editor-rename-identifier.png:

.. figure:: ../../../figs/KB-Editor-rename-identifier.png
   :alt: Either the name change icon or the Rename Identifier option from the right click menu can be used to rename **John**

   Either the name change icon or the Rename Identifier option from the right click menu can be used to rename **John**

A name change dialog box pops up with a list of files where **John** is referenced, as shown in :numref:`figure-KB-Editor-rename-identifier-dialog.png`.  

.. _figure-KB-Editor-rename-identifier-dialog.png:

.. figure:: ../../../figs/KB-Editor-rename-identifier-dialog.png
   :alt: Rename identifier dialog box showing a list of files where **John** is referenced

   Rename identifier dialog box showing a list of files where **John** is referenced	 

Enter the new name for **John**, for example **Jack**, in the Rename as field.  Then select from the list of files those the name change will affect, for examples, family.flr and child.flr, and click OK, as shown in :numref:`figure-KB-Editor-rename-identifier-dialog2.png`.

.. _figure-KB-Editor-rename-identifier-dialog2.png:

.. figure:: ../../../figs/KB-Editor-rename-identifier-dialog2.png
   :alt: **John** is renamed to **Jack** and the list of files affected by the name change is checked

   **John** is renamed to **Jack** and the list of files affected by the name change is checked

Notice that after clicking OK to perform the name change, the 2 affected files appear in the **Text Editor** as tabs with an * in front, indicating that they must be saved for the name change to be permanently kept.  This can be seen in :numref:`figure-KB-Editor-dirty-files.png`.

.. _figure-KB-Editor-dirty-files.png:

.. figure:: ../../../figs/KB-Editor-dirty-files.png
   :alt: Both family.flr and child.flr appear in **Text Editor** as tabs marked with \*, indicating contents must be saved to keep name change permanently

   Both family.flr and child.flr appear in **Text Editor** as tabs marked with \*, indicating contents must be saved to keep name change permanently	 

To minimize potential inconsistencies across files from editing, it is recommended that the affected files are saved as soon as possible after a name change operation.  The **Text Editor** will continue to accept edits to these files while the name change is not yet permanent.