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_chdir, _wchdir

Visual Studio .NET 2003

Change the current working directory.

int _chdir( 
   const char *dirname 
);
int _wchdir( 
   const wchar_t *dirname 
);

Parameter

dirname: Path of new working directory.

Return Value

These functions return a value of 0 if successful. A return value of –1 indicates that the specified path could not be found, in which case errno is set to ENOENT.

Remarks

The _chdir function changes the current working directory to the directory specified by dirname. The dirname parameter must refer to an existing directory. This function can change the current working directory on any drive. If a new drive letter is specified in dirname, the default drive letter will be changed as well. For example, if A is the default drive letter and \BIN is the current working directory, the following call changes the current working directory for drive C and establishes C as the new default drive:

_chdir("c:\\temp");

When you use the optional backslash character (\) in paths, you must place two backslashes (\\) in a C string literal to represent a single backslash (\).

_wchdir is a wide-character version of _chdir; the dirname argument to _wchdir is a wide-character string. _wchdir and _chdir behave identically otherwise.

Generic-Text Routine Mapping:

TCHAR.H routine	_UNICODE & _MBCS not defined	_MBCS defined	_UNICODE defined
_tchdir	_chdir	_chdir	_wchdir

Requirements

Routine	Required header	Optional headers	Compatibility
_chdir	<direct.h>	<errno.h>	Win 98, Win Me, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
_wchdir	<direct.h> or <wchar.h>	<errno.h>	Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP

For additional compatibility information, see Compatibility in the Introduction.

Libraries

All versions of the C run-time libraries.

Example

// crt_chdir.c

/* This program uses the _chdir function to verify
 * that a given directory exists.
 */

#include <direct.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
{
   if( _chdir( argv[1] )   )
      printf( "Unable to locate the directory: %s\n", argv[1] );
   else
      system( "dir *.exe");
}

Sample Output

 Volume in drive C is CDRIVE
 Volume Serial Number is 0E17-1702

 Directory of C:\write

04/21/95  01:06p                 3,200 ERRATA.WRI
04/21/95  01:06p                 2,816 README.WRI
               2 File(s)          6,016 bytes
                             71,432,116 bytes free