chdir(3p) — Linux manual page

CHDIR(3P)               POSIX Programmer's Manual              CHDIR(3P)

PROLOG

       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The
       Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
       corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
       or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME

       chdir — change working directory

SYNOPSIS

       #include <unistd.h>

       int chdir(const char *path);

DESCRIPTION

       The chdir() function shall cause the directory named by the
       pathname pointed to by the path argument to become the current
       working directory; that is, the starting point for path searches
       for pathnames not beginning with '/'.

RETURN VALUE

       Upon successful completion, 0 shall be returned. Otherwise, -1
       shall be returned, the current working directory shall remain
       unchanged, and errno shall be set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

       The chdir() function shall fail if:

       EACCES Search permission is denied for any component of the
              pathname.

       ELOOP  A loop exists in symbolic links encountered during
              resolution of the path argument.

       ENAMETOOLONG
              The length of a component of a pathname is longer than
              {NAME_MAX}.

       ENOENT A component of path does not name an existing directory or
              path is an empty string.

       ENOTDIR
              A component of the pathname names an existing file that is
              neither a directory nor a symbolic link to a directory.

       The chdir() function may fail if:

       ELOOP  More than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links were encountered
              during resolution of the path argument.

       ENAMETOOLONG
              The length of a pathname exceeds {PATH_MAX}, or pathname
              resolution of a symbolic link produced an intermediate
              result with a length that exceeds {PATH_MAX}.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

   Changing the Current Working Directory
       The following example makes the value pointed to by directory,
       /tmp, the current working directory.

           #include <unistd.h>
           ...
           char *directory = "/tmp";
           int ret;

           ret = chdir (directory);

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

RATIONALE

       The chdir() function only affects the working directory of the
       current process.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       getcwd(3p)

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, unistd.h(0p)

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic
       form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information
       Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The
       Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright
       (C) 2018 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 .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page
       are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of
       the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

IEEE/The Open Group               2017                         CHDIR(3P)

Pages that refer to this page: cd(1p), fchdir(3p)

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