3/15/72 UNLINK (II)





3/15/72                                               UNLINK (II)





NAME            unlink  --  remove directory entry



SYNOPSIS        sys unlink; name  / unlink = 10.



DESCRIPTION     Name points to a null-terminated string.  Unlink

                removes the entry for the file pointed to by name

                from its directory.  If this entry was the last

                link to the file, the contents of the file are

                freed and the file is destroyed.  If, however,

                the file was open in any process, the actual de-

                struction is delayed until it is closed, even

                though the directory entry has disappeared.



FILES           --



SEE ALSO        rm(I), rmdir(I), link(II)



DIAGNOSTICS     The error bit (c-bit) is set to indicate that the

                file does not exist or that its directory cannot

                be written.  Write permission is not required on

                the file itself.  It is also illegal to unlink a

                directory (except for the super-user).



BUGS            Probably write permission should be required to

                remove the last link to a file, but this gets in

                other problems (namely, one can donate an un-

                deletable file to someone else).



                If the system crashes while a file is waiting to

                be deleted because it is open, the space is lost.



OWNER           ken, dmr
squoze.net
