REMOVE(3)		   Linux Programmer's Manual		     REMOVE(3)



NAME
       remove - remove a file or directory

SYNOPSIS
       #include <stdio.h>

       int remove(const char *pathname);

DESCRIPTION
       remove()	 deletes  a  name from the filesystem.	It calls unlink(2) for
       files, and rmdir(2) for directories.

       If the removed name was the last link to a file and no  processes  have
       the  file  open, the file is deleted and the space it was using is made
       available for reuse.

       If the name was the last link to a file, but any processes  still  have
       the  file  open,	 the file will remain in existence until the last file
       descriptor referring to it is closed.

       If the name referred to a symbolic link, the link is removed.

       If the name referred to a socket, FIFO, or device, the name is removed,
       but processes which have the object open may continue to use it.

RETURN VALUE
       On  success,  zero is returned.	On error, -1 is returned, and errno is
       set appropriately.

ERRORS
       The errors that occur are those for unlink(2) and rmdir(2).

ATTRIBUTES
       For  an	explanation  of	 the  terms  used   in	 this	section,   see
       attributes(7).

       +----------+---------------+---------+
       |Interface | Attribute	  | Value   |
       +----------+---------------+---------+
       |remove()  | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
       +----------+---------------+---------+
CONFORMING TO
       POSIX.1-2001, POSIX.1-2008, C89, C99, 4.3BSD.

BUGS
       Infelicities  in	 the  protocol underlying NFS can cause the unexpected
       disappearance of files which are still being used.

SEE ALSO
       rm(1), unlink(1),  link(2),  mknod(2),  open(2),	 rename(2),  rmdir(2),
       unlink(2), mkfifo(3), symlink(7)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 4.10 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs,  and  the
       latest	  version     of     this    page,    can    be	   found    at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



GNU				  2015-08-08			     REMOVE(3)