xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/gen/getcwd.3 (revision 712dc76e87bd7bbeb3f781e690886b69a1f9c5ca)
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32.\"     @(#)getcwd.3	8.2 (Berkeley) 12/11/93
33.\"
34.Dd December 11, 1993
35.Dt GETCWD 3
36.Os BSD 4.2
37.Sh NAME
38.Nm getcwd ,
39.Nm getwd
40.Nd get working directory pathname
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Fd #include <unistd.h>
43.Ft char *
44.Fn getcwd "char *buf" "size_t size"
45.Ft char *
46.Fn getwd "char *buf"
47.Sh DESCRIPTION
48The
49.Fn getcwd
50function copies the absolute pathname of the current working directory
51into the memory referenced by
52.Fa buf
53and returns a pointer to
54.Fa buf .
55The
56.Fa size
57argument is the size, in bytes, of the array referenced by
58.Fa buf .
59.Pp
60If
61.Fa buf
62is
63.Dv NULL ,
64space is allocated as necessary to store the pathname.
65This space may later be
66.Xr free 3 Ns 'd.
67.Pp
68The function
69.Fn getwd
70is a compatibility routine which calls
71.Fn getcwd
72with its
73.Fa buf
74argument and a size of
75.Dv MAXPATHLEN
76(as defined in the include
77file
78.Aq Pa sys/param.h ) .
79Obviously,
80.Fa buf
81should be at least
82.Dv MAXPATHLEN
83bytes in length.
84.Pp
85These routines have traditionally been used by programs to save the
86name of a working directory for the purpose of returning to it.
87A much faster and less error-prone method of accomplishing this is to
88open the current directory
89.Pq Ql \&.
90and use the
91.Xr fchdir 2
92function to return.
93.Sh RETURN VALUES
94Upon successful completion, a pointer to the pathname is returned.
95Otherwise a
96.Dv NULL
97pointer is returned and the global variable
98.Va errno
99is set to indicate the error.
100In addition,
101.Fn getwd
102copies the error message associated with
103.Va errno
104into the memory referenced by
105.Fa buf .
106.Sh ERRORS
107The
108.Fn getcwd
109function
110will fail if:
111.Bl -tag -width [EACCESS]
112.It Bq Er EACCESS
113Read or search permission was denied for a component of the pathname.
114.It Bq Er EINVAL
115The
116.Fa size
117argument is zero.
118.It Bq Er ENOENT
119A component of the pathname no longer exists.
120.It Bq Er ENOMEM
121Insufficient memory is available.
122.It Bq Er ERANGE
123The
124.Fa size
125argument is greater than zero but smaller than the length of the pathname
126plus 1.
127.El
128.Sh SEE ALSO
129.Xr chdir 2 ,
130.Xr fchdir 2 ,
131.Xr malloc 3 ,
132.Xr strerror 3
133.Sh STANDARDS
134The
135.Fn getcwd
136function
137conforms to
138.St -ansiC .
139The ability to specify a
140.Dv NULL
141pointer and have
142.Fn getcwd
143allocate memory as necessary is an extension.
144.Sh HISTORY
145The
146.Fn getwd
147function appeared in
148.Bx 4.0 .
149.Sh BUGS
150The
151.Fn getwd
152function
153does not do sufficient error checking and is not able to return very
154long, but valid, paths.
155It is provided for compatibility.
156