NAME

basename, dirname − deliver portions of path names

SYNOPSIS

basename string [ suffix ]
dirname string

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.

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

EXAMPLE

Invoked with the argument /usr/src/cmd/cat.c,

cc $1
mv a.out ‘basename $1 .c‘

compiles the named file and moves the output to a file named "cat" in the current directory. 

NAME=‘dirname /usr/src/cmd/cat.c‘

sets the shell variable NAME to /usr/src/cmd. 

SEE ALSO

sh(1). 

BUGS

The basename of / is null and is considered an error. 

Version 2.5  —  April 22, 1987