3.3.12 Procedure 12: REMOVE - Remove a File

SYNOPSIS

      REMOVE3res NFSPROC3_REMOVE(REMOVE3args) = 12;

      struct REMOVE3args {
           diropargs3  object;
      };

      struct REMOVE3resok {
           wcc_data    dir_wcc;
      };

      struct REMOVE3resfail {
           wcc_data    dir_wcc;
      };

      union REMOVE3res switch (nfsstat3 status) {
      case NFS3_OK:
           REMOVE3resok   resok;
      default:
           REMOVE3resfail resfail;
      };

DESCRIPTION

Procedure REMOVE removes (deletes) an entry from a directory. If the entry in the directory was the last reference to the corresponding file system object, the object may be destroyed. On entry, the arguments in REMOVE3args are:

object

A diropargs3 structure identifying the entry to be removed:

dir

The file handle for the directory from which the entry is to be removed.

name

The name of the entry to be removed. Refer to General comments on filenames on page 30.

On successful return, REMOVE3res.status is NFS3_OK and REMOVE3res.resok contains:

dir_wcc

Weak cache consistency data for the directory, object.dir. For a client that requires only the post-REMOVE directory attributes, these can be found in dir_wcc.after.

Otherwise, REMOVE3res.status contains the error on failure and REMOVE3res.resfail contains the following:

dir_wcc

Weak cache consistency data for the directory, object.dir. For a client that requires only the post-REMOVE directory attributes, these can be found in dir_wcc.after. Even though the REMOVE failed, full wcc_data is returned to allow the client to determine whether the failing REMOVE changed the directory.

IMPLEMENTATION

In general, REMOVE is intended to remove non-directory file objects and RMDIR is to be used to remove directories. However, REMOVE can be used to remove directories, subject to restrictions imposed by either the client or server interfaces. This had been a source of confusion in the NFS version 2 protocol.

The concept of last reference is server specific. However, if the nlink field in the previous attributes of the object had the value 1, the client should not rely on referring to the object via a file handle. Likewise, the client should not rely on the resources (disk space, directory entry, and so on.) formerly associated with the object becoming immediately available. Thus, if a client needs to be able to continue to access a file after using REMOVE to remove it, the client should take steps to make sure that the file will still be accessible. The usual mechanism used is to use RENAME to rename the file from its old name to a new hidden name.

Refer to General comments on filenames on page 30.

ERRORS

NFS3ERR_NOENT NFS3ERR_IO NFS3ERR_ACCES NFS3ERR_NOTDIR NFS3ERR_NAMETOOLONG NFS3ERR_ROFS NFS3ERR_STALE NFS3ERR_BADHANDLE NFS3ERR_SERVERFAULT

SEE ALSO RMDIR and RENAME.