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32 .\" @(#)unlink.2 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
33 .\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/sys/unlink.2,v 1.8.2.4 2001/12/14 18:34:02 ru Exp $
34 .\" $DragonFly: src/lib/libc/sys/unlink.2,v 1.4 2007/04/26 17:35:03 swildner Exp $
41 .Nd remove directory entry
47 .Fn unlink "const char *path"
52 removes the link named by
54 from its directory and decrements the link count of the
55 file which was referenced by the link.
56 If that decrement reduces the link count of the file
58 and no process has the file open, then
59 all resources associated with the file are reclaimed.
60 If one or more process have the file open when the last link is removed,
61 the link is removed, but the removal of the file is delayed until
62 all references to it have been closed.
64 may not be a directory.
73 A component of the path prefix is not a directory.
74 .It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
75 A component of a pathname exceeded 255 characters,
76 or an entire path name exceeded 1023 characters.
78 The named file does not exist.
80 Search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix.
82 Write permission is denied on the directory containing the link
85 Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating the pathname.
87 The named file has its immutable or append-only flag set (see
90 The named file is a directory.
92 The directory containing the file is marked sticky,
93 and neither the containing directory nor the file to be removed
94 are owned by the effective user ID.
96 The entry to be unlinked is the mount point for a
99 An I/O error occurred while deleting the directory entry
100 or deallocating the inode.
102 The named file resides on a read-only file system.
105 points outside the process's allocated address space.
115 function call appeared in
120 system call traditionally allows the super-user to unlink directories which
121 can damage the filesystem integrity. This implementation no longer permits