[unix-history] / usr / man / man1 / rm.1

.TH RM 1 
.SH NAME
rm, rmdir  \- remove (unlink) files
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B rm
[
.B \-fri
] 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
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
.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
5203c864 KT	1	.TH RM 1
	2	.SH NAME
	3	rm, rmdir \- remove (unlink) files
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	.B rm
	6	[
	7	.B \-fri
	8	] file ...
	9	.PP
	10	.B rmdir
	11	dir ...
	12	.PP
	13	.SH DESCRIPTION
	14	.I Rm
	15	removes the entries for one or more
	16	files
	17	from a directory.
	18	If an entry was the last link to the file, the file
	19	is destroyed.
	20	Removal of a file requires write permission in its directory,
	21	but neither read nor write permission on the file itself.
	22	.PP
	23	If a file has no write permission
	24	and the standard input is a terminal,
	25	its permissions are printed and a line is read from
	26	the standard input.
	27	If that line begins with `y' the file is deleted,
	28	otherwise the file remains.
	29	No questions are asked
	30	when the
	31	.B \-f
	32	(force) option is given.
	33	.PP
	34	If a designated file is a directory,
	35	an error comment is printed unless the optional
	36	argument
	37	.B \-r
	38	has been used.
	39	In that case,
	40	.I rm
	41	recursively deletes the
	42	entire contents of the specified directory,
	43	and the directory itself.
	44	.PP
	45	If the
	46	.B \-i
	47	(interactive) option is in effect,
	48	.I rm
	49	asks whether to delete each file,
	50	and, under
	51	.BR \-r ,
	52	whether to examine each directory.
	53	.PP
	54	.I Rmdir
	55	removes entries for the named directories,
	56	which must be empty.
	57	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	58	unlink(2)
	59	.SH DIAGNOSTICS
	60	Generally self-explanatory.
	61	It is forbidden to remove the file `..' merely to avoid the
	62	antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing something like
	63	`rm \-r .*'.