REMOVE(3) Linux Programmer's Manual REMOVE(3)
NAME
remove - remove a file or directory
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdio.h>
int remove(const char *pathname);
DESCRIPTION
remove() deletes a name from the filesystem. It calls unlink(2) for
files, and rmdir(2) for directories.
If the removed name was the last link to a file and no processes have
the file open, the file is deleted and the space it was using is made
available for reuse.
If the name was the last link to a file, but any processes still have
the file open, the file will remain in existence until the last file
descriptor referring to it is closed.
If the name referred to a symbolic link, the link is removed.
If the name referred to a socket, FIFO, or device, the name is removed,
but processes which have the object open may continue to use it.
RETURN VALUE
On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned, and errno is
set appropriately.
ERRORS
The errors that occur are those for unlink(2) and rmdir(2).
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see at-
tributes(7).
+----------+---------------+---------+
|Interface | Attribute | Value |
+----------+---------------+---------+
|remove() | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
+----------+---------------+---------+
CONFORMING TO
POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008, C89, C99, 4.3BSD.
BUGS
Infelicities in the protocol underlying NFS can cause the unexpected
disappearance of files which are still being used.
SEE ALSO
rm(1), unlink(1), link(2), mknod(2), open(2), rename(2), rmdir(2), un-
link(2), mkfifo(3), symlink(7)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 5.07 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
latest version of this page, can be found at
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
GNU 2017-09-15 REMOVE(3)