chdir(2) System Calls Manual chdir(2)
Name
chdir - change working directory
Syntax
chdir(path)
char *path;
Description
The path is the pathname of a directory. The system call causes this directory to become the current working directory, which is the
starting point for pathnames that do not begin at the root directory (/).
For a directory to become the current directory, the process must have execute (search) access to the directory.
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.
Environment
Differs from the System V definition in that ELOOP is a possible error condition.
Diagnostics
The system call fails and the current working directory is unchanged under the following conditions:
[ENOTDIR] A component of the pathname is not a directory.
[ENAMETOOLONG] A component of a pathname exceeds 255 characters, or an entire path name exceeds 1023 characters.
[ENOENT] The named directory does not exist or the path points to an empty string and the environment defined is POSIX or SYS-
TEM_FIVE.
[EACCES] Search permission is denied for any component of the path name.
[EFAULT] The path points outside the process's allocated address space.
[ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
[EIO] An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the file system.
[ESTALE] The file handle given in the argument was invalid. The file referred to by that file handle no longer exists or has been
revoked.
[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
chroot(2)
chdir(2)
