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GETCWD(3)		     Library Functions Manual		       GETCWD(3)

NAME
     getcwd, getwd -- get working directory pathname

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <unistd.h>

     char *
     getcwd(char *buf, size_t size);

     char *
     getwd(char *buf);

DESCRIPTION
     The  getcwd()  function copies the absolute pathname of the current working
     directory into the memory referenced by buf and returns a pointer	to  buf.
     The size argument is the size, in bytes, of the array referenced by buf.

     If  buf  is  NULL,  space	is allocated as necessary to store the pathname.
     This space may later be free(3)'d.

     The function getwd() is a compatibility routine which calls  getcwd()  with
     its  buf  argument and a size of MAXPATHLEN (as defined in the include file
     <sys/param.h>).  Obviously, buf should be	at  least  MAXPATHLEN  bytes  in
     length.

     These routines have traditionally been used by programs to save the name of
     a	working directory for the purpose of returning to it.  A much faster and
     less error-prone method of accomplishing this is to open the current direc-
     tory (`.') and use the fchdir(2) function to return.

RETURN VALUES
     Upon successful completion, a pointer to the pathname is returned.   Other-
     wise a NULL pointer is returned and the global variable errno is set to in-
     dicate the error.	In addition, getwd() copies the error message associated
     with errno into the memory referenced by buf.

ERRORS
     The getcwd() function will fail if:

     [EINVAL]		The size argument is zero.

     [ENOENT]		A component of the pathname no longer exists.

     [ENOMEM]		Insufficient memory is available.

     [ERANGE]		The  size argument is greater than zero but smaller than
			the length of the pathname plus 1.

     The getcwd() function may fail if:

     [EACCES]		Read or search permission was denied for a component  of
			the  pathname.	 This  is only checked in limited cases,
			depending on implementation details.

SEE ALSO
     chdir(2), fchdir(2), malloc(3), strerror(3)

STANDARDS
     The getcwd() function conforms to	ISO/IEC  9945-1:1990  ("POSIX.1").   The
     ability to specify a NULL pointer and have getcwd() allocate memory as nec-
     essary is an extension.

HISTORY
     The getwd() function appeared in 4.0BSD.

BUGS
     The  getwd() function does not do sufficient error checking and is not able
     to return very long, but valid, paths.  It is provided for compatibility.

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	 April 17, 2010 		       GETCWD(3)

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