GETWD(3P)						     POSIX Programmer's Manual							 GETWD(3P)

PROLOG

       This  manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the correspond-
       ing Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME

       getwd - get the current working directory pathname (LEGACY)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <unistd.h>

       char *getwd(char *path_name);

DESCRIPTION

       The getwd() function shall determine an absolute pathname of the current working directory of the calling process, and copy a  string  con-
       taining that pathname into the array pointed to by the path_name argument.

       If  the	length of the pathname of the current working directory is greater than ({PATH_MAX}+1) including the null byte, getwd() shall fail
       and return a null pointer.

RETURN VALUE

       Upon successful completion, a pointer to the string containing the absolute pathname of the current working directory  shall  be  returned.
       Otherwise, getwd() shall return a null pointer and the contents of the array pointed to by path_name are undefined.

ERRORS

       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE

       For applications portability, the getcwd() function should be used to determine the current working directory instead of getwd().

RATIONALE

       Since  the  user  cannot  specify the length of the buffer passed to getwd(), use of this function is discouraged. The length of a pathname
       described in {PATH_MAX} is file system-dependent and may vary from one mount point to another, or might even be unlimited. It  is  possible
       to overflow this buffer in such a way as to cause applications to fail, or possible system security violations.

       It is recommended that the getcwd() function should be used to determine the current working directory.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       This function may be withdrawn in a future version.

SEE ALSO

       getcwd(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <unistd.h>

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technol-
       ogy -- 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 .

IEEE
/The Open Group						       2003								 GETWD(3P)