Rename dialog for a variable

Use this dialog to rename a variable.

In addition to renaming the variable itself, IntelliJ IDEA can also look for the usages of the variable name. If found, the changes you are making to the variable name can also be applied to these usages.

The usages are assigned to different categories which correspond to the options which you can turn on and off.

You can set up a scope for usages of a class where the renaming method is located. For example, it might be helpful if you want to rename some popular method such as getSomething. Instead of searching through the whole project and deciding what to rename or what to leave unchanged along the way, you can limit your search to just one file, or just open files, or the recently changed files, and so on.

Item	Description
Rename <variable> and its usages to	Specify a new name for the variable.
Search for references	If this option is on, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the variable name in variable references in source code files. Whether or not a string literal is a reference is defined by the (programming) language used in a source file.
Search in comments and strings	If this checkbox is selected, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the variable name within comments and string literals in your source code files.
Search in loaded sources	If this checkbox is selected, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the variable name within downloaded object sources.
Preview pane	The statement to be run to rename the table or column. If necessary, you can edit the statement right in this pane.
Refactor	Execute the statement and make associated changes right away.
Preview	Preview potential associated changes prior to executing the statement.
Search for text occurrences	If this option is on, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the variable name in the files that don't contain source code. These may be the text files, properties files, HTML files, documentation files, and so on.
Rename variables	If this option is on, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the variable name in the names of variables. Note that only the variables that have the type of the variable you are renaming will be taken into account. To illustrate, let's assume that you are renaming the class `MyClass` and there are the variables `MyClass myclass`, `MyClass myclass20`, `MyClass m` and `YourClass myclass25`. In such a case, IntelliJ IDEA will suggest to rename the first and the second of the variables but won't suggest to rename the third and the fourth.
Rename inheritors	If this option is on, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the variable name in the names of its inheritors: If you are renaming a class, IntelliJ IDEA will search the hierarchies of the classes that extend this class. If you are renaming an interface, IntelliJ IDEA will search the hierarchies of the interfaces that extend this interface and the hierarchies of the classes that implement this interface.
Rename tests	If this option is on, IntelliJ IDEA will look for occurrences of the class name in the names of the test classes.
Rename bound forms	This option is available if the class you are renaming has an associated GUI form. Select this checkbox to rename the associated form.
Scope	Use this option to set a scope for the Rename refactoring. For example, you can limit the refactoring to only recently changed files, or to only open files, and so on. You can also create a custom scope that you can either share or keep local.

Last modified: 11 February 2024