CHDIR(3)                   POSIX Programmer's Manual                  CHDIR(3)



PROLOG
       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The OS
       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
       OS manual page for details of OS behavior), or the interface may not be
       implemented on OS.

NAME
       chdir -- change working directory

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       int chdir(const char *path);

DESCRIPTION
       The chdir() function shall cause the directory named by the pathname
       pointed to by the path argument to become the current working
       directory; that is, the starting point for path searches for pathnames
       not beginning with ''//''.

RETURN VALUE
       Upon successful completion, 0 shall be returned. Otherwise, -1 shall be
       returned, the current working directory shall remain unchanged, and
       errno shall be set to indicate the error.

ERRORS
       The chdir() function shall fail if:

       EACCES Search permission is denied for any component of the pathname.

       ELOOP  A loop exists in symbolic links encountered during resolution of
              the path argument.

       ENAMETOOLONG
              The length of a component of a pathname is longer than
              {NAME_MAX}.

       ENOENT A component of path does not name an existing directory or path
              is an empty string.

       ENOTDIR
              A component of the pathname names an existing file that is
              neither a directory nor a symbolic link to a directory.

       The chdir() function may fail if:

       ELOOP  More than {SYMLOOP_MAX} symbolic links were encountered during
              resolution of the path argument.

       ENAMETOOLONG
              The length of a pathname exceeds {PATH_MAX}, or pathname
              resolution of a symbolic link produced an intermediate result
              with a length that exceeds {PATH_MAX}.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES
   Changing the Current Working Directory
       The following example makes the value pointed to by directory, /tmp,
       the current working directory.


           #include <unistd.h>
           ...
           char *directory = "/tmp";
           int ret;

           ret = chdir (directory);

APPLICATION USAGE
       None.

RATIONALE
       The chdir() function only affects the working directory of the current
       process.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       getcwd()

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2017, <unistd.h>

COPYRIGHT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology --
       Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the
       Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open
       Group.  In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the
       original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The
       Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can
       be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
       files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                  2017                             CHDIR(3)
