LINK(2) LINK(2)
NAME
link, symlink, readlink - link to a file
SYNOPSIS
int link(name1, name2)
char *name1, *name2;
int symlink(name1, name2)
char *name1, *name2;
int readlink(name, buf, size)
char *name, *buf;
DESCRIPTION
Link and symlink create a link to file name1 with new name
name2. Either name may be an arbitrary path name.
After link, name2 is entirely equivalent to name1; it is a
directory entry referring to the same file as name1. Only
the super-user can make the link if name1 is a directory.
After symlink, name2 is a new symbolic link; when it is
encountered in any path name, name1 is substituted for
name2, and path name parsing continues. If name1 begins
with the `/' character, it is interpreted with respect to
the root directory; if not, it is interpreted with respect
to the directory in which name2 resides.
Symbolic links are slightly slower than normal links but may
span file systems; normal links are confined to a single
file system.
Readlink copies the pathname inside symbolic link name into
memory at buf. No more than size bytes are copied; the
actual number of bytes read is returned. The contents of
buf will not be null-terminated. An error is returned if
name is not a symbolic link.
SEE ALSO
cp(1), unlink(2), stat(2)
DIAGNOSTICS
all: EIO, ELOOP, ENOENT, ENOTDIR
link: EEXIST, EROFS, EXDEV
symlink: EEXIST, EROFS
readlink: ENXIO