Converts a symbolic path to an absolute one (C, bash)

sym2actual.c

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define PATH_MAX 3000
/* Compile with -D_BSD_SOURCE */

/* sym2actual converts a path to an absolute one
 *
 * Args:
 *      symlinkpath (pointer to char): The input path string
 *
 * Returns:
 *      a pointer at the beggin of absolute path string
 *
*/
char *sym2actual(char *symlinkpath) {
    char *actualpath;
    char *ptr;

    actualpath = (char *)malloc(PATH_MAX*sizeof(char));
    if (!actualpath) goto fail;

    ptr = realpath(symlinkpath, actualpath);
    if (!ptr) goto fail;

    return actualpath;

fail:
    printf("Cannot resolve full path!\n");
    exit(-2);
}