RM(C)                                UNIX System V



     Name
          rm - removes files or directories


     Syntax
          rm [ -fri ] file ...


     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 the user does not have write permission  on  a  specified
          file  and  the  standard  input  is  a terminal, the user is
          prompted for confirmation.  The file's name and  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.  If the -f option is given or if the standard
          input is not a terminal, no messages are issued;  files  are
          simply removed.

          rm will not delete directories unless the -r option is used.


     Options
          The following options are recognized.

          -f When invoked with the -f option, rm does not  prompt  the
             user  for  confirmation  for files on which the user does
             not have write permission.  The files are simply removed.

          -r The -r (recursive) option causes rm to recursively delete
             the entire contents of the any directories specified, and
             the  directories  themselves.   Note  that  the  rmdir(C)
             command is a safer way of removing directories.

          -i The -i (interactive) option causes rm to ask  whether  to
             delete  each  file,  and  if  the -r option is in effect,
             whether to examine each directory.

          The special option ``--'' can be used  to  delimit  options.
          For  example, a file named ``-f'' could not be removed by rm
          because the hyphen is interpreted as an option; the  command
          rm  -f  would do nothing, since no file is specified.  Using
          rm -- -f removes the file successfully.


     See Also
          rmdir(C)


     Notes
          It  is  forbidden  to  remove  the  file  ..  to  avoid  the
          consequences of inadvertently doing something like:

               rm -r .*

          It is also forbidden to remove the root directory of a given
          file system.

          No more than 17 levels  of  subdirectories  can  be  removed
          using the -r option.


     Standards Conformance
          rm is conformant with:
          AT&T SVID Issue 2, Select Code 307-127;
          and The X/Open Portability Guide II of January 1987.


     (printed 2/15/90)                                      RM(C)