4.1cBSD/usr/man/man1/rm.1

.TH RM 1 "1 April 1981"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
rm, rmdir  \- remove (unlink) files or directories
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B rm
[
.B \-f
] [
.B \-r
] [
.B \-i
] [
.B \-
] file ...
.PP
.B rmdir
dir ...
.PP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Rm
removes the entries for one or more files from a directory.
If an entry was the last link to the file, the file is destroyed.
Removal of a file requires write permission in its directory,
but neither read nor write permission on the file itself.
.PP
If a file has no write permission and the standard input is a terminal,
its permissions are printed and a line is read from the standard input.
If that line begins with `y' the file is deleted, otherwise the file remains.
No questions are asked and no errors are reported when the
.B \-f
(force) option is given.
.PP
If a designated file is a directory,
an error comment is printed unless the optional argument
.B \-r
has been used.  In that case,
.I rm
recursively deletes the entire contents of the specified directory,
and the directory itself.
.PP
If the
.B \-i
(interactive) option is in effect,
.I rm
asks whether to delete each file, and, under
.BR \-r ,
whether to examine each directory.
.PP
The null option
.B \-
indicates that all the arguments following it are to be treated as
file names.  This allows the specification of file names starting with
a minus.
.PP
.I Rmdir
removes entries for the named directories, which must be empty.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
rm(1), unlink(2), rmdir(2)
.SH MESSAGES
.LP
It is forbidden to remove the file `..' merely to avoid the
antisocial consequences of inadvertently doing something like `rm \-r .*'.
.IP "rm: unknown option \fIx\fP" 10
.br
You typed an option which \fIrm\fP does not recognize.  Acceptable
options are \fB-i\fP (interactive prompting), \fB-r\fP (recursive
removal of whole hierarchies), and \fB-f\fP (force removal of files).
.IP "remove directory \fIfilename\fP? " 10
.br
This message is displayed when you used the \fB-i\fP (interactive
prompt) option, and you are asking \fIrm\fP to remove a directory.
If you type a `y', the directory is removed;  any other response leaves
the directory intact.
.IP "rm: remove \fIfilename\fP? " 10
.br
This message is displayed when you used the \fB-i\fP (interactive
prompt) option, and you are asking \fIrm\fP to remove a file.
If you type a `y', the file is removed;  any other response leaves
the file intact.
.IP "rm: override protection \fInnn\fP for \fIfilename\fP? " 10
.br
The protections for \fIfilename\fP were such that the \fIrm\fP command
needs confirmation as to whether to remove the file.  \fIRm\fP displays
the protections (given by \fInnn\fP) and waits for a response.  If you
type a `y', the file is removed;  any other response leaves the file intact.
.IP "rm: cannot remove `..'" 10
.br
You cannot remove the parent directory of the directory you are
currently positioned in.
.IP "rm: \fIfilename\fP nonexistent" 10
.br
The file specified by \fIfilename\fP does not exists \(em check that you
spelled the name correctly or that you typed the correct pathname.
.IP "\fIfilename\fP not changed" 10
.br
The protections and/or ownership of the file specified by \fIfilename\fP
were such that \fIrm\fP did not actually remove the file.
.IP "rm: cannot read \fIdirname\fP?" 10
.br
One or more of the directories in the path to a specified file are not
readable (the permissions do not allow reading).
.IP "rm: \fIdirname\fP directory" 10
.br
You are asking \fIrm\fP to remove a directory specified by
\fIdirname\fP.  Use \fIrmdir\fP to remove directories.
.IP "rm: \fIfilename\fP not removed" 10
.br
The protections and/or ownership of the file specified by \fIfilename\fP
were such that \fIrm\fP did not actually remove the file.