NAME

       remove - remove a file or directory

LIBRARY

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

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 to indicate the
       error.

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 attributes(7).

       ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
       │Interface                                                      │ Attribute     │ Value   │
       ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┤
       │remove()                                                       │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe │
       └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────┘

STANDARDS

       C11, POSIX.1-2008.

HISTORY

       POSIX.1-2001, C89, 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), unlink(2), mkfifo(3),
       symlink(7)