[unix-history] / usr / src / bin / rm / rm.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)rm.1	4.1 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH RM 1 4/1/81
.UC 4
.SH NAME
rm, rmdir  \- remove (unlink) files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B rm
[
.B \-f
] [
.B \-r
] [
.B \-i
] [
.B \-
] file ...
.PP
.B rmdir
dir ...
.PP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Rm
removes the entries for one or more
files
from a directory.
If an entry was the last link to the file, the file
is destroyed.
Removal of a file requires write permission in its directory,
but neither read nor write permission on the file itself.
.PP
If a file has no write permission
and the standard input is a terminal,
its permissions are printed and a line is read from
the standard input.
If that line begins with `y' the file is deleted,
otherwise the file remains.
No questions are asked
and no errors are reported
when the
.B \-f
(force) option is given.
.PP
If a designated file is a directory,
an error comment is printed unless the optional
argument
.B \-r
has been used.
In that case,
.I rm
recursively deletes the
entire contents of the specified directory,
and the directory itself.
.PP
If the
.B \-i
(interactive) option is in effect,
.I rm
asks whether to delete each file,
and, under
.BR \-r ,
whether to examine each directory.
.PP
The null option
.B \-
indicates that all the arguments following it are to be treated as
file names.  This allows the specification of file names starting with
a minus.
.PP
.I Rmdir
removes entries for the named directories,
which must be empty.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
unlink(2)
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
Generally self-explanatory.
It is forbidden to remove the file `..' merely to avoid the
antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing something like
`rm \-r .*'.
Commit	Line	Data
d1ca8f44 KM	1	.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
	2	.\" All rights reserved. The Berkeley software License Agreement
	3	.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
	4	.\"
	5	.\" @(#)rm.1 4.1 (Berkeley) %G%
	6	.\"
	7	.TH RM 1 4/1/81
	8	.UC 4
	9	.SH NAME
	10	rm, rmdir \- remove (unlink) files
	11	.SH SYNOPSIS
	12	.B rm
	13	[
	14	.B \-f
	15	] [
	16	.B \-r
	17	] [
	18	.B \-i
	19	] [
	20	.B \-
	21	] file ...
	22	.PP
	23	.B rmdir
	24	dir ...
	25	.PP
	26	.SH DESCRIPTION
	27	.I Rm
	28	removes the entries for one or more
	29	files
	30	from a directory.
	31	If an entry was the last link to the file, the file
	32	is destroyed.
	33	Removal of a file requires write permission in its directory,
	34	but neither read nor write permission on the file itself.
	35	.PP
	36	If a file has no write permission
	37	and the standard input is a terminal,
	38	its permissions are printed and a line is read from
	39	the standard input.
	40	If that line begins with `y' the file is deleted,
	41	otherwise the file remains.
	42	No questions are asked
	43	and no errors are reported
	44	when the
	45	.B \-f
	46	(force) option is given.
	47	.PP
	48	If a designated file is a directory,
	49	an error comment is printed unless the optional
	50	argument
	51	.B \-r
	52	has been used.
	53	In that case,
	54	.I rm
	55	recursively deletes the
	56	entire contents of the specified directory,
	57	and the directory itself.
	58	.PP
	59	If the
	60	.B \-i
	61	(interactive) option is in effect,
	62	.I rm
	63	asks whether to delete each file,
	64	and, under
65	.BR \-r ,
66	whether to examine each directory.
67	.PP
68	The null option
69	.B \-
70	indicates that all the arguments following it are to be treated as
71	file names. This allows the specification of file names starting with
72	a minus.
73	.PP
74	.I Rmdir
75	removes entries for the named directories,
76	which must be empty.
77	.SH "SEE ALSO"
78	unlink(2)
79	.SH DIAGNOSTICS
80	Generally self-explanatory.
81	It is forbidden to remove the file `..' merely to avoid the
82	antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing something like
83	`rm \-r .*'.