RM(1-SysV) RISC/os Reference Manual RM(1-SysV)
NAME
rm, rmdir - remove files or directories
SYNOPSIS
rm [-f] [-i] file ...
rm -r [-f] [-i] dirname ... [file ...]
rmdir [-p] [-s] dirname ...
DESCRIPTION
rm removes the entries for one or more files from a direc-
tory. 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, the full set of permissions (in octal) for the
file are printed followed by a question mark. This is a
prompt for confirmation. If the answer begins with y (for
yes), the file is deleted, otherwise the file remains.
Note that if the standard input is not a terminal, the com-
mand will operate as if the -f option is in effect.
rmdir removes the named directories, which must be empty.
Three options apply to rm:
-f This option causes the removal of all
files (whether write-protected or not)
in a directory without prompting the
user. File related error messages are
suppressed. In a write-protected direc-
tory, however, files are never removed
(whatever their permissions are), but no
messages are displayed. If the removal
of a write-protected directory was
attempted, this option cannot suppress
an error message.
-r This option causes the recursive removal
of any directories and subdirectories in
the argument list. The directory will
be emptied of files and removed. Note
that the user is normally prompted for
removal of any write-protected files
which the directory contains. The
write-protected files are removed
without prompting, however, if the -f
option is used, or if the standard input
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RM(1-SysV) RISC/os Reference Manual RM(1-SysV)
is not a terminal and the -i option is
not used.
If the removal of a non-empty, write-
protected directory was attempted, the
command will always fail (even if the -f
option is used), resulting in an error
message.
-i With this option, confirmation of remo-
val of any write-protected file occurs
interactively. It overrides the -f
option and remains in effect even if the
standard input is not a terminal.
Two options apply to rmdir:
-p This option allows users to remove the
directory dirname and its parent direc-
tories which become empty. A message is
printed on standard output as to whether
the whole path is removed or part of the
path remains for some reason.
-s This option is used to suppress the mes-
sage printed on standard error when -p
is in effect.
DIAGNOSTICS
All messages are generally self-explanatory.
It is forbidden to remove the files "." and ".." in order
to avoid the consequences of inadvertently doing something
like the following:
rm -r .*
Both rm and rmdir return exit codes of 0 if all the speci-
fied directories are removed successfully. Otherwise, they
return a non-zero exit code.
SEE ALSO
unlink(2), rmdir(2) in the Programmer's Reference Manual.
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