[apple/xnu.git] / bsd / man / man2 / symlink.2

.\"	$NetBSD: symlink.2,v 1.7 1995/02/27 12:38:34 cgd Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1991, 1993
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\"    without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"     @(#)symlink.2	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
.\"
.Dd June 4, 1993
.Dt SYMLINK 2
.Os BSD 4.2
.Sh NAME
.Nm symlink
.Nd make symbolic link to a file
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Fd #include <unistd.h>
.Ft int
.Fo symlink
.Fa "const char *path1"
.Fa "const char *path2"
.Fc
.Sh DESCRIPTION
A symbolic link
.Fa path2
is created to
.Fa path1
.Pf ( Fa path2
is the name of the
file created,
.Fa path1
is the string
used in creating the symbolic link).
Either name may be an arbitrary path name; the files need not
be on the same file system.
.Sh RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion, a zero value is returned.
If an error occurs, the error code is stored in
.Va errno
and a -1 value is returned.
.Sh ERRORS
The symbolic link succeeds unless:
.Bl -tag -width Er
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EACCES
Write permission is denied in the directory
where the symbolic link is being created.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EACCES
A component of the
.Fa path2
path prefix denies search permission.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EDQUOT
The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link
is being placed cannot be extended because the
user's quota of disk blocks on the file system
containing the directory has been exhausted.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EDQUOT
The new symbolic link cannot be created because the user's
quota of disk blocks on the file system that will
contain the symbolic link has been exhausted.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EDQUOT
The user's quota of inodes on the file system on
which the symbolic link is being created has been exhausted.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EEXIST
.Fa Path2
already exists.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EFAULT
.Fa Path1
or
.Fa path2
points outside the process's allocated address space.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EIO
An I/O error occurs while making the directory entry
or allocating the inode.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EIO
An I/O error occurs while making the directory entry for
.Fa path2 ,
or allocating the inode for
.Fa path2 ,
or writing out the link contents of
.Fa path2 .
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ELOOP
Too many symbolic links are encountered in translating the pathname.
This is taken to be indicative of a looping symbolic link.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
A component of a pathname exceeds 
.Dv {NAME_MAX}
characters, or an entire path name exceeds
.Dv {PATH_MAX}
characters.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ENOENT
A component of
.Fa path2
does not name an existing file or
.Fa path2
is an empty string.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ENOSPC
The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link is being placed
cannot be extended because there is no space left on the file
system containing the directory.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ENOSPC
The new symbolic link cannot be created because there
there is no space left on the file
system that will contain the symbolic link.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ENOSPC
There are no free inodes on the file system on which the
symbolic link is being created.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er ENOTDIR
A component of the
.Fa path2
prefix is not a directory.
.\" ===========
.It Bq Er EROFS
The file
.Fa path2
would reside on a read-only file system.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr ln 1 ,
.Xr link 2 ,
.Xr unlink 2 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Fn symlink
function call appeared in
.Bx 4.2 .
Commit	Line	Data
9bccf70c A	1	.\" $NetBSD: symlink.2,v 1.7 1995/02/27 12:38:34 cgd Exp $
	2	.\"
	3	.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1991, 1993
	4	.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
	5	.\"
	6	.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
	7	.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
	8	.\" are met:
	9	.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
	10	.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
	11	.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
	12	.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
	13	.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
	14	.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
	15	.\" must display the following acknowledgement:
	16	.\" This product includes software developed by the University of
	17	.\" California, Berkeley and its contributors.
	18	.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
	19	.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
	20	.\" without specific prior written permission.
	21	.\"
	22	.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
	23	.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
	24	.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
	25	.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
	26	.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
	27	.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
	28	.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
	29	.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
	30	.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
	31	.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
	32	.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
	33	.\"
	34	.\" @(#)symlink.2 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/4/93
	35	.\"
	36	.Dd June 4, 1993
	37	.Dt SYMLINK 2
	38	.Os BSD 4.2
	39	.Sh NAME
	40	.Nm symlink
	41	.Nd make symbolic link to a file
	42	.Sh SYNOPSIS
	43	.Fd #include <unistd.h>
	44	.Ft int
2d21ac55 A	45	.Fo symlink
	46	.Fa "const char *path1"
	47	.Fa "const char *path2"
	48	.Fc
9bccf70c A	49	.Sh DESCRIPTION
9bccf70c A	50	A symbolic link
2d21ac55	51	.Fa path2
9bccf70c	52	is created to
2d21ac55 A	53	.Fa path1
2d21ac55 A	54	.Pf ( Fa path2
9bccf70c A	55	is the name of the
9bccf70c A	56	file created,
2d21ac55	57	.Fa path1
9bccf70c A	58	is the string
	59	used in creating the symbolic link).
	60	Either name may be an arbitrary path name; the files need not
	61	be on the same file system.
	62	.Sh RETURN VALUES
	63	Upon successful completion, a zero value is returned.
	64	If an error occurs, the error code is stored in
	65	.Va errno
	66	and a -1 value is returned.
	67	.Sh ERRORS
	68	The symbolic link succeeds unless:
	69	.Bl -tag -width Er
2d21ac55 A	70	.\" ===========
	71	.It Bq Er EACCES
	72	Write permission is denied in the directory
	73	where the symbolic link is being created.
	74	.\" ===========
9bccf70c A	75	.It Bq Er EACCES
9bccf70c A	76	A component of the
2d21ac55	77	.Fa path2
9bccf70c	78	path prefix denies search permission.
2d21ac55 A	79	.\" ===========
	80	.It Bq Er EDQUOT
	81	The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link
	82	is being placed cannot be extended because the
	83	user's quota of disk blocks on the file system
	84	containing the directory has been exhausted.
	85	.\" ===========
	86	.It Bq Er EDQUOT
	87	The new symbolic link cannot be created because the user's
	88	quota of disk blocks on the file system that will
	89	contain the symbolic link has been exhausted.
	90	.\" ===========
	91	.It Bq Er EDQUOT
	92	The user's quota of inodes on the file system on
	93	which the symbolic link is being created has been exhausted.
	94	.\" ===========
9bccf70c	95	.It Bq Er EEXIST
2d21ac55	96	.Fa Path2
9bccf70c	97	already exists.
2d21ac55 A	98	.\" ===========
	99	.It Bq Er EFAULT
	100	.Fa Path1
	101	or
	102	.Fa path2
	103	points outside the process's allocated address space.
	104	.\" ===========
	105	.It Bq Er EIO
	106	An I/O error occurs while making the directory entry
	107	or allocating the inode.
	108	.\" ===========
9bccf70c	109	.It Bq Er EIO
2d21ac55 A	110	An I/O error occurs while making the directory entry for
2d21ac55 A	111	.Fa path2 ,
9bccf70c	112	or allocating the inode for
2d21ac55	113	.Fa path2 ,
9bccf70c	114	or writing out the link contents of
2d21ac55 A	115	.Fa path2 .
	116	.\" ===========
	117	.It Bq Er ELOOP
	118	Too many symbolic links are encountered in translating the pathname.
	119	This is taken to be indicative of a looping symbolic link.
	120	.\" ===========
	121	.It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG
	122	A component of a pathname exceeds
	123	.Dv {NAME_MAX}
	124	characters, or an entire path name exceeds
	125	.Dv {PATH_MAX}
	126	characters.
	127	.\" ===========
	128	.It Bq Er ENOENT
	129	A component of
	130	.Fa path2
	131	does not name an existing file or
	132	.Fa path2
	133	is an empty string.
	134	.\" ===========
9bccf70c A	135	.It Bq Er ENOSPC
	136	The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link is being placed
	137	cannot be extended because there is no space left on the file
	138	system containing the directory.
2d21ac55	139	.\" ===========
9bccf70c A	140	.It Bq Er ENOSPC
	141	The new symbolic link cannot be created because there
	142	there is no space left on the file
	143	system that will contain the symbolic link.
2d21ac55	144	.\" ===========
9bccf70c A	145	.It Bq Er ENOSPC
	146	There are no free inodes on the file system on which the
	147	symbolic link is being created.
2d21ac55 A	148	.\" ===========
	149	.It Bq Er ENOTDIR
	150	A component of the
	151	.Fa path2
	152	prefix is not a directory.
	153	.\" ===========
	154	.It Bq Er EROFS
	155	The file
	156	.Fa path2
	157	would reside on a read-only file system.
9bccf70c A	158	.El
	159	.Sh SEE ALSO
	160	.Xr ln 1 ,
	161	.Xr link 2 ,
2d21ac55 A	162	.Xr unlink 2 ,
2d21ac55 A	163	.Xr symlink 7
9bccf70c A	164	.Sh HISTORY
	165	The
	166	.Fn symlink
	167	function call appeared in
	168	.Bx 4.2 .