HP-UX Reference (11i v1 00/12) - 2 System Calls (vol 5)
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STANDARD Printed by: Nora Chuang [nchuang] STANDARD
/build/1111/BRICK/man2/!!!intro.2
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s
symlink(2) symlink(2)
NAME
symlink - make symbolic link to a file
SYNOPSIS
#include <unistd.h>
int symlink(const char *path1, const char *path2);
DESCRIPTION
The symlink() function creates a symbolic link. Its name is the pathname pointed to by path2, which
must be a pathname that does not name an existing file or symbolic link. The contents of the symbolic link
are the string pointed to by path1.
RETURN VALUE
Upon successful completion, symlink() returns 0. Otherwise, it returns −1 and sets errno to indicate
the error.
ERRORS
The symlink() function will fail if:
[EACCES] Write permission is denied in the directory where the symbolic link is being
created, or search permission is denied for a component of the path prefix
of path2.
[EEXIST] The path2 argument names an existing file or symbolic link.
[EIO] An I/O error occurs while reading from or writing to the file system.
[ELOOP] Too many symbolic links were encountered in resolving path2.
[ENAMETOOLONG] The length of the path2 argument exceeds {
PATH_MAX}, or a pathname
component is longer than {
NAME_MAX}.
[ENOENT] A component of path2 does not name an existing file or path2 is an empty
string.
[ENOSPC] The directory in which the entry for the new symbolic link is being placed
cannot be extended because no space is left on the file system containing
the directory, or the new symbolic link cannot be created because no space
is left on the file system which will contain the link, or the file system is out
of file-allocation resources.
[ENOTDIR] A component of the path prefix of path2 is not a directory.
[EROFS] The new symbolic link would reside on a read-only file system.
The
symlink() function may fail if:
[ENAMETOOLONG] Pathname resolution of a symbolic link produced an intermediate result
whose length exceeds {PATH_MAX}.
APPLICATION USAGE
Like a hard link, a symbolic link allows a file to have multiple logical names. The presence of a hard link
guarantees the existence of a file, even after the original name has been removed. A symbolic link provides
no such assurance; in fact, the file named by the path1 argument need not exist when the link is created. A
symbolic link can cross file system boundaries.
Normal permission checks are made on each component of the symbolic link pathname during its resolu-
tion.
SEE ALSO
chown(2), link(2), lstat(2), open(2), readlink(2), <unistd.h>.
CHANGE HISTORY
First released in Issue 4, Version 2.
HP-UX Release 11i: December 2000 − 1 − Section 2−−393
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