rmdir(1)                                                           rmdir(1)

NAME
     rmdir - remove directories

SYNOPSIS
     rmdir[ -p][ -s][ --] directory ...

DESCRIPTION
     rmdir removes one or more empty directories. Directories containing
     files cannot be removed with rmdir. To remove a directory together
     with everything it contains you can use the rm command, specifying
     option -r or -R.

OPTIONS
     No option specified
          rmdir removes the specified directories.

     -p   (p - parents) The specified directory is removed, and all empty
          parent directories in the specified path are removed recursively.
          A message is then written to standard output if a part of the
          path still remains.

     -s   Suppresses the message written by the -p option.

     --   End of the list of options. Must be specified if directory begins
          with -.

     directory
          Name of the directory you want to remove.

          You can name any number of directories.

ERROR MESSAGES
     rmdir: dir1: Directory not empty

          You have attempted to use rmdir to remove a directory dir1 which
          still has files in it.

          You can use the rm command with option -r or -R to remove direc-
          tories that contain files.

     rmdir: dir1: Directory does not exist

          The directory named dir1 does not exist.

     rmdir: ../dir1: Can't remove current directory or ..

          The current directory or its parent cannot be removed. Change to
          the parent directory.







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rmdir(1)                                                           rmdir(1)

LOCALE
     The LCMESSAGES environment variable governs the language in which
     message texts are displayed. If LCMESSAGES is undefined or is defined
     as the null string, it defaults to the value of LANG. If LANG is like-
     wise undefined or null, the system acts as if it were not internation-
     alized.

     The LCALL environment variable governs the entire locale. LCALL
     takes precedence over all the other environment variables which affect
     internationalization.

EXAMPLES
     Removing the directories pro and proc.

     The contents of your current working directory are:

     drwxr-xr-x  11 susan    other       5720   Nov 18 14:16 ./
     drwxr-xr-x  13 root     root        3380   Nov 04 11:48 ../
     -rw-------   1 susan    other         79   Jul 19 14:21 .profile
     -rwx------   1 susan    other        125   May 25 10:29 begin
     drwx------   2 susan    other         32   Oct 11 15:36 pro/
     drwx--x--x   2 susan    other         32   Nov 07 10:43 proc/

     The directories pro and proc are empty, so you can remove them with
     rmdir.

     $ rmdir pro proc
     $ ls -lpa
     drwxr-xr-x  11 susan    other       5720   Nov 18 14:16 ./
     drwxr-xr-x  13 root     root        3380   Nov 04 11:48 ../
     -rw-------   1 susan    other         79   Jul 19 14:21 .profile
     -rwx------   1 susan    other        125   May 25 10:29 begin

     Your current directory contains a directory dvz1. In dvz1 there is
     another directory dvz2, and within that dvz3. dvz1 also contains the
     file file1.

     $ rmdir -p dvz1/dvz2/dvz3
     rmdir: dvz1/dvz2/dvz3: dvz1 not removed; Directory not empty

SEE ALSO
     rm(1), rmdir(2), unlink(2), remove(3C).












Page 2                       Reliant UNIX 5.44                Printed 11/98