chdir(2) System Calls chdir(2)NAME
chdir, fchdir - change working directory
SYNOPSIS
#include <unistd.h>
int chdir(const char *path);
int fchdir(int fildes);
DESCRIPTION
The chdir() and fchdir() functions cause a directory pointed to by path
or fildes to become the current working directory. The starting point
for path searches for path names not beginning with / (slash). The path
argument points to the path name of a directory. The fildes argument is
an open file descriptor of a directory.
For a directory to become the current directory, a process must have
execute (search) access to the directory.
RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, 0 is returned. Otherwise, −1 is returned,
the current working directory is unchanged, and errno is set to indi‐
cate the error.
ERRORS
The chdir() function will fail if:
EACCES Search permission is denied for any component of the
path name.
EFAULT The path argument points to an illegal address.
EINTR A signal was caught during the execution of the chdir()
function.
EIO An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to
the file system.
ELOOP Too many symbolic links were encountered in translating
path.
ENAMETOOLONG The length of the path argument exceeds PATH_MAX, or
the length of a path component exceeds NAME_MAX while
_POSIX_NO_TRUNC is in effect.
ENOENT Either a component of the path prefix or the directory
named by path does not exist or is a null pathname.
ENOLINK The path argument points to a remote machine and the
link to that machine is no longer active.
ENOTDIR A component of the path name is not a directory.
The fchdir() function will fail if:
EACCES Search permission is denied for fildes.
EBADF The fildes argument is not an open file descriptor.
EINTR A signal was caught during the execution of the fchdir()
function.
EIO An I/O error occurred while reading from or writing to the
file system.
ENOLINK The fildes argument points to a remote machine and the link
to that machine is no longer active.
ENOTDIR The open file descriptor fildes does not refer to a direc‐
tory.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │Committed │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│MT-Level │Async-Signal-Safe │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Standard │See standards(5). │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOchroot(2), attributes(5), standards(5)SunOS 5.11 28 Dec 1996 chdir(2)
