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Chdir in C Language With Examples

The chdir() function in C is used to change the current working directory of the calling process to the directory specified by the path parameter, returning 0 on success and -1 on error; it allows changing directories both within a program and for the shell, though changes only affect the process and not the parent shell; examples demonstrate using chdir() to change directories and print the current working directory before and after with getcwd().

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Krishanu Modak
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717 views

Chdir in C Language With Examples

The chdir() function in C is used to change the current working directory of the calling process to the directory specified by the path parameter, returning 0 on success and -1 on error; it allows changing directories both within a program and for the shell, though changes only affect the process and not the parent shell; examples demonstrate using chdir() to change directories and print the current working directory before and after with getcwd().

Uploaded by

Krishanu Modak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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chdir() in C language with Examples

The chdir command is a system function (system call) which is used to change the current working directory. On some systems, this command
is used as an alias for the shell command cd. chdir changes the current working directory of the calling process to the directory speci ed in
path.

Syntax:

int chdir(const char *path);

Parameter: Here, the path is the Directory path which the user want to make the current working directory.

Return Value: This command returns zero (0) on success. -1 is returned on an error and errno is set appropriately.

Note: It is declared in unistd.h.

Example 1:

#include<stdio.h>
  
// chdir function is declared
// inside this header
#include<unistd.h> 
int main()
{   
    char s[100];
  
    // printing current working directory
    printf("%s\n", getcwd(s, 100));
  
    // using the command
    chdir("..");
  
    // printing current working directory
    printf("%s\n", getcwd(s, 100));
  
    // after chdir is executed
    return 0;
}

Output:

Note:The above program changes the working directory of a process. But, it doesn’t change the working directory of current shell. Because
when the program is executed in the shell, the shell follows fork on exec mechanism. So, it doesn’t affect the current shell.

Example 2:

#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
  
// Main Method
int main() {
  
  // changing the current 
  // working directory(cwd)
  // to /usr
  if (chdir("/usr") != 0) 
    perror("chdir() to /usr failed");
  
  // changing the cwd to /tmp
  if (chdir("/tmp") != 0) 
    perror("chdir() to /temp failed");
  
  // there is no /error 
  // directory in my pc
  if (chdir("/error") != 0) 
  
    // so chdir will return -1 
    perror("chdir() to /error failed");  
  
  return 0;
}

Output:

Errors: There can be errors which can be returned. These depend on the lesystem.

EACCES: If the search permission is denied for one of the components of path.
EFAULT: If the path points lie outside the accessible address space.
EIO: If there is an I/O error occurred.
ELOOP: If there are too many symbolic links were encountered in the resolving path.
ENAMETOOLONG: If the path is too long.
ENOENT: If the le does not exist.
ENOMEM: If there is insu cient kernel memory is available.
ENOTDIR: If the component of path is not a directory.

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