1RMDIR(3P) POSIX Programmer's Manual RMDIR(3P)
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 rmdir - remove a directory
13
15 #include <unistd.h>
16 int rmdir(const char *path);
18
21 The rmdir() function shall remove a directory whose name is given by
22 path. The directory shall be removed only if it is an empty directory.
23 If the directory is the root directory or the current working directory
25 of any process, it is unspecified whether the function succeeds, or
26 whether it shall fail and set errno to [EBUSY].
27 If path names a symbolic link, then rmdir() shall fail and set errno to
29 [ENOTDIR].
30 If the path argument refers to a path whose final component is either
32 dot or dot-dot, rmdir() shall fail.
33 If the directory's link count becomes 0 and no process has the direc‐
35 tory open, the space occupied by the directory shall be freed and the
36 directory shall no longer be accessible. If one or more processes have
37 the directory open when the last link is removed, the dot and dot-dot
38 entries, if present, shall be removed before rmdir() returns and no new
39 entries may be created in the directory, but the directory shall not be
40 removed until all references to the directory are closed.
41 If the directory is not an empty directory, rmdir() shall fail and set
43 errno to [EEXIST] or [ENOTEMPTY].
44 Upon successful completion, the rmdir() function shall mark for update
46 the st_ctime and st_mtime fields of the parent directory.
47
49 Upon successful completion, the function rmdir() shall return 0. Other‐
50 wise, -1 shall be returned, and errno set to indicate the error. If -1
51 is returned, the named directory shall not be changed.
52
54 The rmdir() function shall fail if:
55 EACCES Search permission is denied on a component of the path prefix,
57 or write permission is denied on the parent directory of the
58 directory to be removed.
59 EBUSY The directory to be removed is currently in use by the system or
61 some process and the implementation considers this to be an
62 error.
63 EEXIST or ENOTEMPTY
65 The path argument names a directory that is not an empty direc‐
66 tory, or there are hard links to the directory other than dot or
67 a single entry in dot-dot.
68 EINVAL The path argument contains a last component that is dot.
70 EIO A physical I/O error has occurred.
72 ELOOP A loop exists in symbolic links encountered during resolution of
74 the path argument.
75 ENAMETOOLONG
77 The length of the path argument exceeds {PATH_MAX} or a pathname
78 component is longer than {NAME_MAX}.
79 ENOENT A component of path does not name an existing file, or the path
81 argument names a nonexistent directory or points to an empty
82 string.
83 ENOTDIR
85 A component of path is not a directory.
86 EPERM or EACCES
88 The S_ISVTX flag is set on the parent directory of the directory
90 to be removed and the caller is not the owner of the directory
91 to be removed, nor is the caller the owner of the parent direc‐
92 tory, nor does the caller have the appropriate privileges.
93 EROFS The directory entry to be removed resides on a read-only file
95 system.
96 The rmdir() function may fail if:
99 ELOOP More than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links were encountered during
101 resolution of the path argument.
102 ENAMETOOLONG
104 As a result of encountering a symbolic link in resolution of the
105 path argument, the length of the substituted pathname string
106 exceeded {PATH_MAX}.
107 The following sections are informative.
110
112 Removing a Directory
113 The following example shows how to remove a directory named
114 /home/cnd/mod1.
115 #include <unistd.h>
118 int status;
121 ...
122 status = rmdir("/home/cnd/mod1");
123
125 None.
126
128 The rmdir() and rename() functions originated in 4.2 BSD, and they used
129 [ENOTEMPTY] for the condition when the directory to be removed does not
130 exist or new already exists. When the 1984 /usr/group standard was pub‐
131 lished, it contained [EEXIST] instead. When these functions were
132 adopted into System V, the 1984 /usr/group standard was used as a ref‐
133 erence. Therefore, several existing applications and implementations
134 support/use both forms, and no agreement could be reached on either
135 value. All implementations are required to supply both [EEXIST] and
136 [ENOTEMPTY] in <errno.h> with distinct values, so that applications can
137 use both values in C-language case statements.
138 The meaning of deleting pathname /dot is unclear, because the name of
140 the file (directory) in the parent directory to be removed is not
141 clear, particularly in the presence of multiple links to a directory.
142 The POSIX.1-1990 standard was silent with regard to the behavior of
144 rmdir() when there are multiple hard links to the directory being
145 removed. The requirement to set errno to [EEXIST] or [ENOTEMPTY] clari‐
146 fies the behavior in this case.
147 If the process' current working directory is being removed, that should
149 be an allowed error.
150 Virtually all existing implementations detect [ENOTEMPTY] or the case
152 of dot-dot. The text in Error Numbers about returning any one of the
153 possible errors permits that behavior to continue. The [ELOOP] error
154 may be returned if more than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links are encoun‐
155 tered during resolution of the path argument.
156
158 None.
159
161 Error Numbers, mkdir(), remove(), unlink(), the Base Definitions volume
162 of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <unistd.h>
163
165 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
166 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
167 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
168 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
169 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
170 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
171 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
172 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
173 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
174IEEE/The Open Group 2003 RMDIR(3P)