GETWD(3P)                                           POSIX Programmer's Manual                                          GETWD(3P)



PROLOG
       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (con-
       sult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the  interface  may  not  be  implemented  on
       Linux.

NAME
       getwd - get the current working directory pathname (LEGACY)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <unistd.h>

       char *getwd(char *path_name);


DESCRIPTION
       The  getwd()  function  shall determine an absolute pathname of the current working directory of the calling process, and
       copy a string containing that pathname into the array pointed to by the path_name argument.

       If the length of the pathname of the current working directory is greater than ({PATH_MAX}+1) including  the  null  byte,
       getwd() shall fail and return a null pointer.

RETURN VALUE
       Upon  successful  completion,  a  pointer to the string containing the absolute pathname of the current working directory
       shall be returned. Otherwise, getwd() shall return a null pointer and the contents of the array pointed to  by  path_name
       are undefined.

ERRORS
       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES
       None.

APPLICATION USAGE
       For  applications portability, the getcwd() function should be used to determine the current working directory instead of
       getwd().

RATIONALE
       Since the user cannot specify the length of the buffer passed to getwd(), use of this function is discouraged. The length
       of  a  pathname  described  in {PATH_MAX} is file system-dependent and may vary from one mount point to another, or might
       even be unlimited. It is possible to overflow this buffer in such a way as to cause applications  to  fail,  or  possible
       system security violations.

       It is recommended that the getcwd() function should be used to determine the current working directory.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       This function may be withdrawn in a future version.

SEE ALSO
       getcwd(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <unistd.h>

COPYRIGHT
       Portions  of  this  text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for
       Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6,  Copy-
       right (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any
       discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open  Group
       Standard   is   the   referee   document.   The   original   Standard   can   be   obtained  online  at  http://www.open-
       group.org/unix/online.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                                           2003                                                     GETWD(3P)