Updated: 2022/Sep/29

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REALPATH(1)                 General Commands Manual                REALPATH(1)

NAME
     realpath - return resolved canonical path

SYNOPSIS
     realpath [-eEq] [path ...]

DESCRIPTION
     The realpath utility uses the realpath(3) function to resolve all
     symbolic links, extra `/' characters and references to /./ and /../ in
     each path, and writes the result of each to standard output followed by a
     newline.  If path is absent, the current working directory (`.') is
     assumed.

     With the -E option (the default) it is not an error for the final
     component of the resolved pathname to reference a file which does not
     exist.

     The -e option reverses the effect of -E, requiring the path to resolve to
     an existing pathname.

     If -q is specified, warnings will not be printed when realpath(3) fails.
     Messages about other errors, such as bad usage, are still printed.

     On error, nothing is written to standard output for that path.  If -q was
     not given a diagnostic is written to standard error.

EXIT STATUS
     The realpath utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.  Any
     failure to resolve a path is an error for this purpose, the -q option is
     irrelevant.

SEE ALSO
     readlink(1), realpath(3)

STANDARDS
     The realpath utility is expected to comply with the forthcoming edition
     of the POSIX standard.  To be fully POSIX compliant, applications must
     use either the -e or -E option, as which of those (if in fact either, and
     not some other behaviour) applies in their absence is unspecified.  The
     standard requires support for only a single, mandatory, path argument.

HISTORY
     The realpath utility first appeared in FreeBSD 4.3 and was imported into
     NetBSD 10, but modified to be slightly more compatible with the coreutils
     version, and the proposed POSIX standard requirements.

NetBSD 10.99                     July 21, 2022                    NetBSD 10.99