NAME

rm, rmdir  − remove (unlink) files

SYNOPSIS

rm [ −f ] [ −r ] [ −i ] [ − ] file ... 

rmdir dir ... 

DESCRIPTION

Rm 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 or write permission on the file itself. 

If a file has no write permission and the standard input is a terminal, its permissions are printed and a line is read from the standard input.  If that line begins with ‘y’, the file is deleted; otherwise, the file remains.  No questions are asked and no errors are reported when the −f (force) option is given. 

If a designated file is a directory, an error comment is printed, unless the optional argument −r has been used: in that case, rm recursively deletes the entire contents of the specified directory, and the directory itself. 

If the −i (interactive) option is in effect, rm asks whether to delete each file, and, under −r, whether to examine each directory. 

The null option − indicates that all the arguments following it are to be treated as file names.  This option allows the specification of file names starting with a minus. 

Rmdir removes entries for the named directories, which must be empty. 

SEE ALSO

unlink(2)

DIAGNOSTICS

Generally self-explanatory.  It is forbidden to remove the file ‘..’ merely to avoid the antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing something like ‘rm −r .\(**’. 

4th Berkeley Distribution  —  %W%%Q%%Y%