NAME¶
remove - remove a file or directory
SYNOPSIS¶
#include <stdio.h>
int remove(const char *pathname);
DESCRIPTION¶
remove() deletes a name from the filesystem. It calls
unlink(2)
for files, and
rmdir(2) for directories.
If the removed name was the last link to a file and no processes have the file
open, the file is deleted and the space it was using is made available for
reuse.
If the name was the last link to a file, but any processes still have the file
open, the file will remain in existence until the last file descriptor
referring to it is closed.
If the name referred to a symbolic link, the link is removed.
If the name referred to a socket, FIFO, or device, the name is removed, but
processes which have the object open may continue to use it.
RETURN VALUE¶
On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned, and
errno is set
appropriately.
ERRORS¶
The errors that occur are those for
unlink(2) and
rmdir(2).
ATTRIBUTES¶
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
attributes(7).
| Interface |
Attribute |
Value |
| remove () |
Thread safety |
MT-Safe |
POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008, C89, C99, 4.3BSD.
BUGS¶
Infelicities in the protocol underlying NFS can cause the unexpected
disappearance of files which are still being used.
SEE ALSO¶
rm(1),
unlink(1),
link(2),
mknod(2),
open(2),
rename(2),
rmdir(2),
unlink(2),
mkfifo(3),
symlink(7)
COLOPHON¶
This page is part of release 4.10 of the Linux
man-pages project. A
description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest
version of this page, can be found at
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
