xref: /openbsd/bin/rmdir/rmdir.1 (revision 78b63d65)
1.\"	$OpenBSD: rmdir.1,v 1.12 2001/09/15 01:18:41 millert Exp $
2.\"	$NetBSD: rmdir.1,v 1.10 1995/07/25 19:37:35 jtc Exp $
3.\"
4.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993
5.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
6.\"
7.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
8.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
9.\"
10.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
11.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
12.\" are met:
13.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
14.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
15.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
16.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
17.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
18.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
19.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
20.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
21.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
22.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
23.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
24.\"    without specific prior written permission.
25.\"
26.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
27.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
28.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
29.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
30.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
31.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
32.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
33.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
34.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
35.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
36.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
37.\"
38.\"	@(#)rmdir.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
39.\"
40.Dd May 31, 1993
41.Dt RMDIR 1
42.Os
43.Sh NAME
44.Nm rmdir
45.Nd remove directories
46.Sh SYNOPSIS
47.Nm rmdir
48.Op Fl p
49.Ar directory Op Ar ...
50.Sh DESCRIPTION
51The
52.Nm
53utility removes the directory entry specified by
54each
55.Ar directory
56argument, provided it is empty.
57.Pp
58Arguments are processed in the order given.
59In order to remove both a parent directory and a subdirectory
60of that parent, the subdirectory
61must be specified first so the parent directory
62is empty when
63.Nm
64tries to remove it.
65.Pp
66The options are as follows:
67.Bl -tag -width Ds
68.It Fl p
69Each
70.Ar directory
71argument is treated as a pathname of which all
72components will be removed, if they are empty,
73starting with the last most component.
74(See
75.Xr rm 1
76for fully non-discriminant recursive removal.)
77.El
78.Pp
79The
80.Nm
81utility exits with one of the following values:
82.Bl -tag -width Ds
83.It Li \&0
84Each
85.Ar directory
86argument referred to an empty directory and was removed successfully.
87.It Li \&>\&0
88An error occurred.
89.El
90.Sh EXAMPLES
91.Cm rmdir foobar
92.Pp
93Remove the directory
94.Pa foobar
95if it is empty.
96.Pp
97.Cm rmdir -p cow/horse/monkey
98.Pp
99Remove all directories up to and including
100.Pa cow ,
101stopping at the first non-empty directory (if any).
102.Sh SEE ALSO
103.Xr rm 1 ,
104.Xr rmdir 2
105.Sh STANDARDS
106The
107.Nm
108utility is expected to be
109.St -p1003.2
110compatible.
111.Sh HISTORY
112A
113.Nm
114command appeared in
115.At v1 .
116