cd(1)cd(1)NAMEcd - change working directory
SYNOPSIS
[directory]
DESCRIPTION
If directory is not specified, the value of shell parameter is used as
the new working directory. If directory specifies a complete path
starting with or directory becomes the new working directory. If nei‐
ther case applies, tries to find the designated directory relative to
one of the paths specified by the shell variable. has the same syntax
as, and similar semantics to, the shell variable. must have execute
(search) permission in directory.
exists only as a shell built-in command because a new process is cre‐
ated whenever a command is executed, making useless if written and pro‐
cessed as a normal system command. Moreover, different shells provide
different implementations of as a built-in utility. Features of as
described here may not be supported by all the shells. Refer to indi‐
vidual shell manual entries for differences.
If is called in a subshell or a separate utility execution environment
such as:
(which invokes on accessible directories) does not affect the current
directory of the caller's environment. Another usage of as a stand-
alone command is to obtain the exit status of the command.
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
Environment Variables
The following environment variables affect the execution of
The name of the home directory,
used when no directory operand is specified.
A colon-separated list of pathnames that refer to directories.
If the directory operand does not begin with a
slash character, and the first component is not dot
or dot-dot, searches for directory relative to each
directory named in the variable, in the order
listed. The new working directory is set to the
first matching directory found. An empty string in
place of a directory pathname represents the cur‐
rent directory. If is not set, it is treated as if
it was an empty string.
EXAMPLES
Change the current working directory to the directory from any location
in the file system:
Change to new current working directory residing in the current direc‐
tory:
or
Change to directory residing in the current directory's parent direc‐
tory:
Change to the directory whose absolute pathname is
Change to the directory relative to home directory:
RETURN VALUE
Upon completion, exits with one of the following values:
The directory was successfully changed.
An error occurred. The working directory remains unchanged.
SEE ALSOcsh(1), pwd(1), ksh(1), sh-posix(1), sh(1), chdir(2).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCEcd(1)
