1remove(3)                  Library Functions Manual                  remove(3)
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NAME

6       remove - remove a file or directory
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LIBRARY

9       Standard C library (libc, -lc)
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SYNOPSIS

12       #include <stdio.h>
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14       int remove(const char *pathname);
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DESCRIPTION

17       remove()  deletes  a  name from the filesystem.  It calls unlink(2) for
18       files, and rmdir(2) for directories.
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20       If the removed name was the last link to a file and no  processes  have
21       the  file  open, the file is deleted and the space it was using is made
22       available for reuse.
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24       If the name was the last link to a file, but any processes  still  have
25       the  file  open,  the file will remain in existence until the last file
26       descriptor referring to it is closed.
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28       If the name referred to a symbolic link, the link is removed.
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30       If the name referred to a socket, FIFO, or device, the name is removed,
31       but processes which have the object open may continue to use it.
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RETURN VALUE

34       On  success,  zero is returned.  On error, -1 is returned, and errno is
35       set to indicate the error.
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ERRORS

38       The errors that occur are those for unlink(2) and rmdir(2).
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ATTRIBUTES

41       For an  explanation  of  the  terms  used  in  this  section,  see  at‐
42       tributes(7).
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44       ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
45       │Interface                                   │ Attribute     │ Value   │
46       ├────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
47       │remove()                                    │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
48       └────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘
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STANDARDS

51       C11, POSIX.1-2008.
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HISTORY

54       POSIX.1-2001, C89, 4.3BSD.
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BUGS

57       Infelicities  in  the  protocol underlying NFS can cause the unexpected
58       disappearance of files which are still being used.
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SEE ALSO

61       rm(1), unlink(1),  link(2),  mknod(2),  open(2),  rename(2),  rmdir(2),
62       unlink(2), mkfifo(3), symlink(7)
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66Linux man-pages 6.05              2023-07-20                         remove(3)
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