xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/stdlib/realpath.3 (revision afe61c15161c324a7af299a9b8457aba5afc92db)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1994
2.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
5.\" Jan-Simon Pendry.
6.\"
7.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
8.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
9.\" are met:
10.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
11.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
12.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
13.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
14.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
15.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
16.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
17.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
18.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
19.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
20.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
21.\"    without specific prior written permission.
22.\"
23.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
24.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
25.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
26.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
27.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
28.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
29.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
30.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
31.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
32.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
33.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
34.\"
35.\"     @(#)realpath.3	8.2 (Berkeley) 2/16/94
36.\"
37.Dd "February 16, 1994"
38.Dt REALPATH 3
39.Os
40.Sh NAME
41.Nm realpath
42.Nd returns the canonicalized absolute pathname
43.Sh SYNOPSIS
44.Fd #include <sys/param.h>
45.Fd #include <stdlib.h>
46.Ft "char *"
47.Fn realpath "const char *pathname" "char resolvedname[MAXPATHLEN]"
48.Sh DESCRIPTION
49The
50.Fn realpath
51function resolves all symbolic links, extra
52.Dq /
53characters and references to
54.Pa /./
55and
56.Pa /../
57in
58.Fa pathname ,
59and copies the resulting absolute pathname into
60the memory referenced by
61.Fa resolvedname .
62The
63.Fa resolvedname
64argument
65.Em must
66refer to a buffer capable of storing at least
67.Dv MAXPATHLEN
68characters.
69.Pp
70The
71.Fn realpath
72function will resolve both absolute and relative paths
73and return the absolute pathname corresponding to
74.Fa pathname .
75All but the last component of
76.Fa pathname
77must exist when
78.Fn realpath
79is called.
80.Sh "RETURN VALUES"
81The
82.Fn realpath
83function returns
84.Fa resolved_name
85on success.
86If an error occurs,
87.Fn realpath
88returns
89.Dv NULL ,
90and
91.Fa resolved_name
92contains the pathname which caused the problem.
93.Sh ERRORS
94The function
95.Fn realpath
96may fail and set the external variable
97.Va errno
98for any of the errors specified for the library functions
99.Xr chdir 2 ,
100.Xr close 2 ,
101.Xr fchdir 2 ,
102.Xr lstat 2 ,
103.Xr open 2 ,
104.Xr readlink 2
105and
106.Xr getcwd 3 .
107.Sh CAVEATS
108This implementation of
109.Fn realpath
110differs slightly from the Solaris implementation.
111The
112.Bx 4.4
113version always returns absolute pathnames,
114whereas the Solaris implementation will,
115under certain circumstances, return a relative
116.Fa resolved_path
117when given a relative
118.Fa pathname .
119.Sh "SEE ALSO"
120.Xr getcwd 3
121.Sh HISTORY
122The
123.Fn realpath
124function call first appeared in
125.Bx 4.4 .
126