1CHDIR(3P)                  POSIX Programmer's Manual                 CHDIR(3P)
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PROLOG

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.
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NAME

12       chdir — change working directory
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SYNOPSIS

15       #include <unistd.h>
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17       int chdir(const char *path);
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DESCRIPTION

20       The chdir() function shall cause the directory named  by  the  pathname
21       pointed  to  by  the path argument to become the current working direc‐
22       tory; that is, the starting point for path searches for  pathnames  not
23       beginning with '/'.
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RETURN VALUE

26       Upon successful completion, 0 shall be returned. Otherwise, -1 shall be
27       returned, the current working directory  shall  remain  unchanged,  and
28       errno shall be set to indicate the error.
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ERRORS

31       The chdir() function shall fail if:
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33       EACCES Search permission is denied for any component of the pathname.
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35       ELOOP  A loop exists in symbolic links encountered during resolution of
36              the path argument.
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38       ENAMETOOLONG
39              The  length  of  a  component  of  a  pathname  is  longer  than
40              {NAME_MAX}.
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42       ENOENT A  component of path does not name an existing directory or path
43              is an empty string.
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45       ENOTDIR
46              A component of the pathname names an existing file that is  nei‐
47              ther a directory nor a symbolic link to a directory.
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49       The chdir() function may fail if:
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51       ELOOP  More  than  {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links were encountered during
52              resolution of the path argument.
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54       ENAMETOOLONG
55              The length of a pathname exceeds {PATH_MAX}, or pathname resolu‐
56              tion  of  a symbolic link produced an intermediate result with a
57              length that exceeds {PATH_MAX}.
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59       The following sections are informative.
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EXAMPLES

62   Changing the Current Working Directory
63       The following example makes the value pointed to  by  directory,  /tmp,
64       the current working directory.
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67           #include <unistd.h>
68           ...
69           char *directory = "/tmp";
70           int ret;
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72           ret = chdir (directory);
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APPLICATION USAGE

75       None.
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RATIONALE

78       The  chdir() function only affects the working directory of the current
79       process.
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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

82       None.
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SEE ALSO

85       getcwd()
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87       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <unistd.h>
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90       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
91       from  IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Por‐
92       table Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base  Specifi‐
93       cations  Issue  7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of
94       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.   In  the
95       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
96       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard
97       is  the  referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
98       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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100       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear  in  this  page  are
101       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
102       files to man page format. To report such errors,  see  https://www.ker‐
103       nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
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107IEEE/The Open Group                  2017                            CHDIR(3P)
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