RM(1) — HP-UX
NAME
rm, rmdir − remove files or directories
SYNOPSIS
rm [ −fri ] 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 nor 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 when the −f option is given or if the standard input is not a terminal.
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. (Note that rm can recursively remove a maximum of 17 directory levels.)
If the −i (interactive) option is in effect, rm asks whether to delete each file, and, under −r, whether to examine each directory.
Rmdir removes entries for the named directories, which must be empty.
SEE ALSO
DIAGNOSTICS
Generally self-explanatory. It is forbidden to remove the file .. merely to avoid the consequences of inadvertently doing something like:
rm −r .∗
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
8- and 16-bit data, 8-bit file names, messages.
Hewlett-Packard Company — Version B.1, May 11, 2021