The mkdir utility shall create the directories specified by
the operands, in the order specified.
For each dir operand, the mkdir utility shall perform
actions equivalent to the mkdir() function defined in the System
Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
called with the following arguments:
The dir operand is used as the path argument.
The value of the bitwise-inclusive OR of S_IRWXU, S_IRWXG, and S_IRWXO
is used as the mode argument. (If the -m
option is specified, the mode option-argument overrides this
default.)
OPTIONS
The mkdir utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume
of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
The following options shall be supported:
-m mode
Set the file permission bits of the newly-created directory to the
specified mode value. The mode option-argument
shall be the same as the mode operand defined for the chmod
utility. In the
symbolic_mode strings, the op characters '+' and
'-' shall be interpreted relative to an assumed
initial mode of a= rwx; '+' shall add permissions
to the default mode, '-' shall delete permissions
from the default mode.
-p
Create any missing intermediate pathname components.
For each dir operand that does not name an existing directory,
effects equivalent to those caused by the following
command shall occur:
where the -mmode option represents that option supplied
to the original invocation of mkdir, if any.
Each dir operand that names an existing directory shall be ignored
without error.
OPERANDS
The following operand shall be supported:
dir
A pathname of a directory to be created.
STDIN
Not used.
INPUT FILES
None.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
mkdir:
LANG
Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that
are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables
for
the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine
the values of locale categories.)
LC_ALL
If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the
other internationalization variables.
LC_CTYPE
Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes
of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and
contents of diagnostic messages written to standard
error.
NLSPATH
Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES
.
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
Not used.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
OUTPUT FILES
None.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values shall be returned:
0
All the specified directories were created successfully or the -p
option was specified and all the specified directories
now exist.
>0
An error occurred.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
Default.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
The default file mode for directories is a= rwx (777 on
most systems) with selected permissions removed in
accordance with the file mode creation mask. For intermediate pathname
components created by mkdir, the mode is the default
modified by u+ wx so that the subdirectories can always
be created regardless of the file mode creation mask; if
different ultimate permissions are desired for the intermediate directories,
they can be changed afterwards with chmod.
Note that some of the requested directories may have been created
even if an error occurs.
EXAMPLES
None.
RATIONALE
The System V -m option was included to control the file mode.
The System V -p option was included to create any needed intermediate
directories and to complement the functionality
provided by rmdir for removing directories in the path prefix
as they become empty.
Because no error is produced if any path component already exists,
the -p option is also useful to ensure that a particular
directory exists.
The functionality of mkdir is described substantially through
a reference to the mkdir() function in the System Interfaces
volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. For
example, by default, the mode of the directory is affected by the
file mode creation mask in accordance with the specified behavior
of the mkdir() function. In this way, there is less duplication
of effort required for
describing details of the directory creation.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
chmod() , rm , rmdir() , umask() , the System
Interfaces volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, mkdir()
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, Copyright (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.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
