getcwd() -- General Function (libc)

Get current working directory name
#include <unistd.h>
char *getcwd(buffer, size)
char *buffer;
int size;

The  current  working  directory  is  the  directory from  which  file-name
searches  commence when  a path  name  does not  begin with  `/'.  getcwd()
returns  the name  of  the current  working  directory.  It  is useful  for
processes like  spoolers and daemons,  which must generate  full path names
for files.

If buffer  is not  NULL, getcwd()  writes the path  of the  current working
directory into  it.  The  expected path  name must not  be longer  than two
characters less than size. In this case, getcwd() returns buffer.

If  buffer is  NULL, getcwd()  malloc()'s size  bytes.  getcwd()  returns a
pointer to this block of memory.  You can free() it later.

If  you do  not  have permission  to  search all  levels  of the  directory
hierarchy above the current directory, getcwd() cannot obtain the directory
name for you.

See Also

chdir(),
libc,
pwd,
unistd.h
POSIX Standard §5.2.2

Diagnostics

getcwd() returns  NULL and sets errno  to an appropriate value  if an error
occurs.  Possible errors include the following:

EPERM   Could not read one of the parent directories.

EINVAL  size is zero.

ENOMEM  Memory could not be malloc()'d for the buffer.

ERANGE  The path name is too long to fit into size minus two bytes.

Notes

If getcwd() fails, the working  directory cannot be restored to its initial
value.

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness