remove

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 5.05 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)