NAME

       remove - delete a name and possibly the file it refers to

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdio.h>

       int remove(const char *pathname);

DESCRIPTION

       remove  deletes  a  name  from  the  filesystem.  It calls unlink for files, and rmdir 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 for it 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

       EFAULT pathname points outside your accessible address space.

       EACCES Write  access to the directory containing pathname is not allowed for the process's
              effective uid, or one of the directories in pathname did not allow search (execute)
              permission.

       EPERM  The  directory  containing  pathname  has  the  sticky-bit  (S_ISVTX)  set  and the
              process's effective uid is neither the uid of the file to be deleted  nor  that  of
              the directory containing it.

       ENAMETOOLONG
              pathname was too long.

       ENOENT A directory component in pathname does not exist or is a dangling symbolic link.

       ENOTDIR
              A component used as a directory in pathname is not, in fact, a directory.

       ENOMEM Insufficient kernel memory was available.

       EROFS  pathname refers to a file on a read-only filesystem.

CONFORMING TO

       ANSI C, SVID, AT&T, POSIX, X/OPEN, BSD 4.3

BUGS

       Infelicities  in  the  protocol  underlying  NFS can cause the unexpected disappearance of
       files which are still being used.

NOTE

       Under libc4 and libc5, remove was  an  alias  for  unlink  (and  hence  would  not  remove
       directories).

SEE ALSO

       unlink(2), rename(2), open(2), rmdir(2), mknod(2), mkfifo(3), link(2), rm(1), unlink(8).