unlink(2) [opendarwin man page]
UNLINK(2) BSD System Calls Manual UNLINK(2) NAME
unlink -- remove directory entry SYNOPSIS
#include <unistd.h> int unlink(const char *path); DESCRIPTION
The unlink() function removes the link named by path from its directory and decrements the link count of the file which was referenced by the link. If that decrement reduces the link count of the file to zero, and no process has the file open, then all resources associated with the file are reclaimed. If one or more process have the file open when the last link is removed, the link is removed, but the removal of the file is delayed until all references to it have been closed. RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, a value of 0 is returned. Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS
The unlink() succeeds unless: [ENOTDIR] A component of the path prefix is not a directory. [ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeded {NAME_MAX} characters, or an entire path name exceeded {PATH_MAX} characters. [ENOENT] The named file does not exist. [EACCES] Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix. [EACCES] Write permission is denied on the directory containing the link to be removed. [ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname. [EPERM] The named file is a directory and the effective user ID of the process is not the super-user. [EPERM] The directory containing the file is marked sticky, and neither the containing directory nor the file to be removed are owned by the effective user ID. [EBUSY] The entry to be unlinked is the mount point for a mounted file system. [EIO] An I/O error occurred while deleting the directory entry or deallocating the inode. [EROFS] The named file resides on a read-only file system. [EFAULT] Path points outside the process's allocated address space. SEE ALSO
close(2), link(2), rmdir(2) symlink(7) HISTORY
An unlink() function call appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX. 4th Berkeley Distribution June 4, 1993 4th Berkeley Distribution
Check Out this Related Man Page
rmdir(2) System Calls Manual rmdir(2) Name rmdir - remove a directory file Syntax rmdir(path) char *path; Description The system call removes a directory file whose name is given by path. The directory must not have any entries other than dot (.) and dot- dot (..). If one or more processes have the directory open when the last link is removed, the dot and dot-dot entries, if present, are removed before returns and no new entries may be created in the directory. The directory, however, is not removed until all references to the directory have been closed. Return Values A zero (0) is returned if the remove succeeds; otherwise, a -1 is returned, and an error code is stored in the global location errno. Diagnostics The named file is removed unless one or more of the following are true: [ENOTEMPTY] The named directory contains files other than dot and dot-dot. [EPERM] The directory containing the directory to be removed is marked sticky, and neither the containing directory nor the direc- tory to be removed are owned by the effective user ID. [ENOTDIR] A component of the path is not a directory. [ENOENT] The named directory does not exist or path points to an empty string and the environment defined is POSIX or SYSTEM_FIVE. [EACCES] Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix. [EACCES] Write permission is denied on the directory containing the link to be removed. [EBUSY] The directory to be removed is the mount point for a mounted file system. [EROFS] The directory entry to be removed resides on a read-only file system. [EFAULT] The path points outside the process's allocated address space. [ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname. [ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters, or an entire pathname exceeded 1023 characters. [EIO] An I/O error occurred while deleting the directory entry or deallocating the inode. [ETIMEDOUT] A connect request or remote file operation failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time that is dependent on the communications protocol. See Also mkdir(2), unlink(2) rmdir(2)