Name
chdir, fchdir - change working directoryLibrary
Standard C library ( libc ", " -lc )Synopsis
#include <unistd.h> int chdir(const char * path );
int fchdir(int fd );
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
fchdir()
_XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500 || /* Since glibc 2.12: */ _POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L || /* glibc up to and including 2.19: */ _BSD_SOURCE
Description
chdir() changes the current working directory of the calling process to the directory specified inpath
. fchdir() is identical to chdir() the only difference is that the directory is given as an open file descriptor.
Return Value
On success, zero is returned. On error, -1 is returned, and errno is set to indicate the error.Errors
Depending on the filesystem, other errors can be returned. The more general errors for chdir() are listed below:EACCES Search permission is denied for one of the components of path
. (See also path_resolution(7).)
EFAULT path points outside your accessible address space.
EIO An I/O error occurred.
ELOOP Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving path
.
ENAMETOOLONG path is too long.
ENOENT The directory specified in path does not exist.
ENOMEM Insufficient kernel memory was available.
ENOTDIR A component of path is not a directory.
The general errors for fchdir() are listed below:
EACCES Search permission was denied on the directory open on fd
.
EBADF fd is not a valid file descriptor.
ENOTDIR fd does not refer to a directory.
Standards
POSIX.1-2008.History
POSIX.1-2001, SVr4, 4.4BSD.Notes
The current working directory is the starting point for interpreting relative pathnames (those not starting with '/').A child process created via fork(2) inherits its parent's current working directory. The current working directory is left unchanged by execve(2).
See Also
- chroot(2),
- getcwd(3),
- path_resolution(7)