1PWD(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual PWD(1P)
2
6 This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
7 implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
8 Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9 not be implemented on Linux.
10
12 pwd - return working directory name
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15 pwd [-L | -P ]
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18 The pwd utility shall write to standard output an absolute pathname of
19 the current working directory, which does not contain the filenames dot
20 or dot-dot.
21
23 The pwd utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
24 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
25 The following options shall be supported by the implementation:
27 -L If the PWD environment variable contains an absolute pathname of
29 the current directory that does not contain the filenames dot or
30 dot-dot, pwd shall write this pathname to standard output. Oth‐
31 erwise, the -L option shall behave as the -P option.
32 -P The absolute pathname written shall not contain filenames that,
34 in the context of the pathname, refer to files of type symbolic
35 link.
36 If both -L and -P are specified, the last one shall apply. If neither
39 -L nor -P is specified, the pwd utility shall behave as if -L had been
40 specified.
41
43 None.
44
46 Not used.
47
49 None.
50
52 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of pwd:
53 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables
55 that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
56 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
57 ables for the precedence of internationalization variables used
58 to determine the values of locale categories.)
59 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
61 the other internationalization variables.
62 LC_MESSAGES
64 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
65 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
66 NLSPATH
68 Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
69 LC_MESSAGES .
70 PWD If the -P option is in effect, this variable shall be set to an
72 absolute pathname of the current working directory that does not
73 contain any components that specify symbolic links, does not
74 contain any components that are dot, and does not contain any
75 components that are dot-dot. If an application sets or unsets
76 the value of PWD, the behavior of pwd is unspecified.
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80 Default.
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83 The pwd utility output is an absolute pathname of the current working
84 directory:
85 "%s\n", <directory pathname>
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90 The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
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93 None.
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96 None.
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99 The following exit values shall be returned:
100 0 Successful completion.
102 >0 An error occurred.
104
107 If an error is detected, output shall not be written to standard out‐
108 put, a diagnostic message shall be written to standard error, and the
109 exit status is not zero.
110 The following sections are informative.
112
114 None.
115
117 None.
118
120 Some implementations have historically provided pwd as a shell special
121 built-in command.
122 In most utilities, if an error occurs, partial output may be written to
124 standard output. This does not happen in historical implementations of
125 pwd. Because pwd is frequently used in historical shell scripts without
126 checking the exit status, it is important that the historical behavior
127 is required here; therefore, the CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS section specif‐
128 ically disallows any partial output being written to standard output.
129
131 None.
132
134 cd, the System Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, getcwd()
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137 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
138 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
139 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
140 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
141 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
142 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
143 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
144 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
145 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
146IEEE/The Open Group 2003 PWD(1P)