unlink(2)							System Calls Manual							 unlink(2)

NAME

       unlink - remove directory entry; delete file

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

       The system call removes the directory entry named by the path name pointed to by path.

       When all links to a file have been removed and no process has the file open, the space occupied by the file is freed and the file ceases to
       exist.  If one or more processes have the file open when the last link is removed, only the directory entry is removed immediately so  that
       processes  that do not already have the file open cannot access the file.  After all processes close their references to the file, if there
       are no more links to the file, the space occupied by the file is then freed and the file ceases to exist.

RETURN VALUE

       returns the following values:

	      Successful completion.
	      Failure.
		     is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

       If fails, is set to one of the following values:
	      Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.

	      Write permission is denied on the directory containing the link to be removed.

	      The process does not have read/write access permission to the parent
		     directory.

	      The entry to be unlinked is the mount point for a mounted file system.

	      path   points outside the process's allocated address space.  The reliable detection of this error is implementation dependent.

	      Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the path name.

	      The length of the specified path name exceeds
		     bytes, or the length of a component of the path name exceeds bytes while is in effect.

	      The named file does not exist (for example,
		     path is null or a component of path does not exist).

	      A component of the path prefix is not a directory.

	      The directory containing the file to be removed
		     has the sticky bit set and neither the containing directory nor the file to be removed are owned by the effective user ID.

	      The named file is a directory and
		     the effective user ID is not a user with appropriate privileges. Some file systems return this error whenever the named  file
		     is a directory, regardless of the user ID.

	      The directory entry to be unlinked is part of a read-only file system.

	      The entry to be unlinked is the last link to a pure procedure
		     (shared text) file that is being executed.

WARNINGS

       If  is  used  on  a directory that is not empty (contains files other than and the directory is unlinked, the files become orphans, and the
       directory link count is left with an inaccurate value unless they are linked by some other directory.

       If is used on a directory that is empty (contains only the files and the directory is unlinked, but the parent directory's  link  count	is
       left with an inaccurate value.

       In  either  of the above cases, the file system should be checked using (see fsck(1M)).	To avoid these types of problems, use instead (see
       rmdir(2)).

SEE ALSO

       rm(1), close(2), link(2), open(2), rmdir(2), remove(3C), privileges(5).

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

																	 unlink(2)