RM(1)                                SysV                                RM(1)



NAME
     rm, rmdir - remove files or directories

SYNOPSIS
     rm [-f] [-i] file ...

     rm -r [-f] [-i] dirname ... [file ...]

     rmdir [-p] [-s] dirname ...

DESCRIPTION
     The rm command removes the entries for one or more files from a
     directory.  If an entry was the last link to the file, the file is
     destroyed.  Removal of a file requires write permission in its directory,
     but neither read nor write permission on the file itself.

     If a file has no write permission and the standard input is a terminal,
     the full set of permissions (in octal) for the file are printed followed
     by a question mark. This is a prompt for confirmation.  If the answer
     begins with y (for yes), the file is deleted, otherwise the file remains.

     Note that if the standard input is not a terminal, the command will
     operate as if the -f option is in effect.

     The rmdir command removes the named directories, which must be empty.

OPTIONS
     The following options apply to the rm command:

     -f   Remove all files (whether write-protected or not) in a directory
          without prompting the user.  In a write-protected directory,
          however, the files are not removed, though no error messages are
          displayed.
          (NOTE:  rm -f cannot remove Domain/OS keep-protected files)

     -r   Recursively remove any directories and subdirectories in the
          argument list.  The directory will be emptied of files and removed.
          Normally, you are prompted for removal of any write-protected files
          that the directory contains.  The write-protected files are removed
          without prompting, however, if the -f option is used, or if the
          standard input is not a terminal and the -i option is not used.

          If the removal of a non-empty, write-protected directory was
          attempted, the command will always fail (even if the -f option is
          used), resulting in an error message.

     -i   With this option, confirmation of removal of any write-protected
          file occurs interactively.  It overrides the -f option and remains
          in effect even if the standard input is not a terminal.

     The following options apply to the rmdir command:

     -p   Remove the directory dirname and its parent directories which become
          empty as a result.  Print a message on standard output telling
          whether the whole path is removed or part of the path remains for
          some reason.

     -s   Suppress the message printed on standard error when -p is in effect.

DIAGNOSTICS
     All messages are generally self-explanatory.

     It is forbidden to remove the files "." and ".."  in order to avoid the
     consequences of inadvertently doing something like the following:

          rm -r .*

     Both rm and rmdir return exit codes of 0 if all the specified directories
     are removed successfully.  Otherwise, they return a non-zero exit code.

SEE ALSO
     unlink(2), rmdir(2).