BASENAME(1)

NAME
basename, dirname - return filename or directory portion of pathname

SYNOPSIS
basename string [suffix]
basename [-a] [-s suffix] string [...]
dirname string [...]

DESCRIPTION
The basename utility deletes any prefix ending with the last slash ‘/’ character present in string (after first stripping trailing slashes), and a suffix, if given. The suffix is not stripped if it is identical to the remaining characters in string. The resulting filename is written to the standard output. A non-existent suffix is ignored. If -a is specified, then every argument is treated as a string as if basename were invoked with just one argument. If -s is specified, then the suffix is taken as its argument, and all other arguments are treated as a string.

The dirname utility deletes the filename portion, beginning with the last slash ‘/’ character to the end of string (after first stripping trailing slashes), and writes the result to the standard output.

EXIT STATUS

EXAMPLES
The following line sets the shell variable FOO to /usr/bin.

    FOO=`dirname /usr/bin/trail`

SEE ALSO
csh(1), sh(1), basename(3), dirname(3)

STANDARDS
The basename and dirname utilities are expected to be p1003.2 compatible.

HISTORY
The basename utility first appeared in AT&T UNIX. The dirname utility first appeared in AT&T UNIX III.