chdir (3)

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() The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2008, <unistd.h>

COPYRIGHT

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. (This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) 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 www.unix.org/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 www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .