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Name

basename, dirname - deliver portions of path names

Synopsis

/usr/bin/basename string [ suffix ]
/usr/xpg4/bin/basename string [ suffix ]

dirname string

Availability

/usr/bin/basename /usr/bin/dirname

SUNWcsu

/usr/xpg4/bin/basename

SUNWxcu4

Description

basename deletes any prefix ending in / and the suffix (if present in string) from string, and prints the result on the standard output. It is normally used inside substitution marks () within shell procedures.

/usr/bin/basename

The suffix is a pattern defined on the expr(1) manual page.

/usr/xpg4/bin/basename

The suffix is a string with no special significance attached to any of the characters it contains.

dirname delivers all but the last level of the path name in string.

Examples

The following example, invoked with the argument /home/sms/personal/mail sets the environment variable NAME to the file named mail and the environment variable MYMAILPATH to the string /home/sms/personal: 


example% NAME=‘basename $HOME/personal/mail‘
example% MYMAILPATH=‘dirname $HOME/personal/mail‘

This shell procedure, invoked with the argument /usr/src/bin/cat.c, compiles the named file and moves the output to cat in the current directory: 


example% cc $1
example% mv a.out ‘basename $1 .c‘

Environment

See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of basename and dirname: LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH .

Exit Status

The following exit values are returned:
  1. Successful completion.
    >0
    An error occurred.

    See Also

    expr(1) , environ(5)

    Table of Contents