getwd(3C) Standard C Library Functions getwd(3C)NAME
getwd - get current working directory pathname
SYNOPSIS
#include <unistd.h>
char *getwd(char *path_name);
DESCRIPTION
The getwd() function determines an absolute pathname of the current working directory of the calling process, and copies 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() fails and
returns a null pointer.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, a pointer to the string containing the absolute pathname of the current working directory is returned. Other-
wise, getwd() returns a null pointer and the contents of the array pointed to by path_name are undefined.
ERRORS
No errors are defined.
USAGE
For portability to implementations conforming to versions of the X/Open Portability Guide prior to SUS, getcwd(3C) is preferred over this
function.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
|Interface Stability |Standard |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
SEE ALSO getcwd(3C), attributes(5), standards(5)SunOS 5.10 24 Jul 2002 getwd(3C)
Check Out this Related Man Page
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)