rmdir - remove a directory

#include <unistd.h>

int rmdir(const char *path);

The rmdir() function shall remove a directory whose name is given by path. The directory shall be removed only if it is an empty directory.

If the directory is the root directory or the current working directory of any process, it is unspecified whether the function succeeds, or whether it shall fail and set errno to [EBUSY].

If path names a symbolic link, then rmdir() shall fail and set errno to [ENOTDIR].

If the path argument refers to a path whose final component is either dot or dot-dot, rmdir() shall fail.

If the directory's link count becomes 0 and no process has the directory open, the space occupied by the directory shall be freed and the directory shall no longer be accessible. If one or more processes have the directory open when the last link is removed, the dot and dot-dot entries, if present, shall be removed before rmdir() returns and no new entries may be created in the directory, but the directory shall not be removed until all references to the directory are closed.

If the directory is not an empty directory, rmdir() shall fail and set errno to [EEXIST] or [ENOTEMPTY].

Upon successful completion, the rmdir() function shall mark for update the st_ctime and st_mtime fields of the parent directory.

Upon successful completion, the function rmdir() shall return 0. Otherwise, -1 shall be returned, and errno set to indicate the error. If -1 is returned, the named directory shall not be changed.

The rmdir() function shall fail if:

EACCES

Search permission is denied on a component of the path prefix, or write permission is denied on the parent directory of the directory to be removed.

EBUSY

The directory to be removed is currently in use by the system or some process and the implementation considers this to be an error.

EEXIST or ENOTEMPTY

The path argument names a directory that is not an empty directory, or there are hard links to the directory other than dot or a single entry in dot-dot.

EINVAL

The path argument contains a last component that is dot.

EIO

A physical I/O error has occurred.

ELOOP

A loop exists in symbolic links encountered during resolution of the path argument.

ENAMETOOLONG

The length of the path argument exceeds {PATH_MAX} or a pathname component is longer than {NAME_MAX}.

ENOENT

A component of path does not name an existing file, or the path argument names a nonexistent directory or points to an empty string.

ENOTDIR

A component of path is not a directory.

EPERM or EACCES

The S_ISVTX flag is set on the parent directory of the directory to be removed and the caller is not the owner of the directory to be removed, nor is the caller the owner of the parent directory, nor does the caller have the appropriate privileges.

EROFS

The directory entry to be removed resides on a read-only file system.

The rmdir() function may fail if:

ELOOP

More than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links were encountered during resolution of the path argument.

ENAMETOOLONG

As a result of encountering a symbolic link in resolution of the path argument, the length of the substituted pathname string exceeded {PATH_MAX}.

The following sections are informative.

Removing a Directory

None.

The rmdir() and rename() functions originated in 4.2 BSD, and they used [ENOTEMPTY] for the condition when the directory to be removed does not exist or new already exists. When the 1984 /usr/group standard was published, it contained [EEXIST] instead. When these functions were adopted into System V, the 1984 /usr/group standard was used as a reference. Therefore, several existing applications and implementations support/use both forms, and no agreement could be reached on either value. All implementations are required to supply both [EEXIST] and [ENOTEMPTY] in <errno.h> with distinct values, so that applications can use both values in C-language case statements.

The meaning of deleting pathname /dot is unclear, because the name of the file (directory) in the parent directory to be removed is not clear, particularly in the presence of multiple links to a directory.

The POSIX.1-1990 standard was silent with regard to the behavior of rmdir() when there are multiple hard links to the directory being removed. The requirement to set errno to [EEXIST] or [ENOTEMPTY] clarifies the behavior in this case.

If the process' current working directory is being removed, that should be an allowed error.

Virtually all existing implementations detect [ENOTEMPTY] or the case of dot-dot. The text in Error Numbers about returning any one of the possible errors permits that behavior to continue. The [ELOOP] error may be returned if more than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links are encountered during resolution of the path argument.

None.

Error Numbers , mkdir() , remove() , unlink() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <unistd.h>

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .