rmdir(2)                         UNIX System V                         rmdir(2)


NAME
      rmdir - remove a directory

SYNOPSIS
      #include <unistd.h>

      int rmdir(const char *path);

DESCRIPTION
      rmdir removes the directory named by the path name pointed to by path.
      The directory must not have any entries other than ``.'' and ``..''.

      If the directory's link count becomes zero and no process has the
      directory open, the space occupied by the directory is freed and the
      directory is no longer accessible. If one or more processes have the
      directory open when the last link is removed, the ``.'' and ``..''
      entries, if present, are removed before rmdir returns and no new entries
      may be created in the directory, but the directory is not removed until
      all references to the directory have been closed.

      If path is a symbolic link, it is not followed.

      Upon successful completion rmdir marks for update the stctime and
      stmtime fields of the parent directory.

      The named directory is removed unless one or more of the following are
      true:

      EACCES              Search permission is denied for a component of the
                          path prefix.

      EACCES              Write permission is denied on the directory
                          containing the directory to be removed.

      EACCES              The parent directory has the sticky bit set and is
                          not owned by the user; the directory is not owned by
                          the user and is not writable by the user; the user is
                          not a super-user.

      EBUSY               The directory to be removed is the mount point for a
                          mounted file system.

      EEXIST              The directory contains entries other than those for
                          ``.'' and ``..''.

      EFAULT              path points outside the process's allocated address
                          space.

      EINVAL              The directory to be removed is the current directory.





10/89                                                                    Page 1

rmdir(2)                         UNIX System V                         rmdir(2)


      EINVAL              The directory to be removed is the ``.'' entry of a
                          directory.

      EIO                 An I/O error occurred while accessing the file
                          system.

      ELOOP               Too many symbolic links were encountered in
                          translating path.

      EMULTIHOP           Components of path require hopping to multiple remote
                          machines and the file system does not allow it.

      ENAMETOOLONG        The length of the path argument exceeds {PATHMAX},
                          or the length of a path component exceeds {NAMEMAX}
                          while POSIXNOTRUNC is in effect.

      ENOTDIR             A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

      ENOENT              The named directory does not exist or is the null
                          pathname.

      EROFS               The directory entry to be removed is part of a read-
                          only file system.

      ENOLINK             path points to a remote machine, and the link to that
                          machine is no longer active.

DIAGNOSTICS
      Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned.  Otherwise, a value
      of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error.

SEE ALSO
      mkdir(2).
      rm(1), and mkdir(1) in the User's Reference Manual.




















Page 2                                                                    10/89