NAME

       basename - return the last component of a pathname

SYNOPSIS

       #include <libgen.h>

       char *basename(char *path);

DESCRIPTION

       The basename() function shall take the pathname pointed to by path and return a pointer to
       the final component of the pathname, deleting any trailing '/' characters.

       If the string consists entirely of the '/' character, basename() shall return a pointer to
       the  string "/" . If the string is exactly "//" , it is implementation-defined whether '/'
       or "//" is returned.

       If path is a null pointer or points to an empty string, basename() shall return a  pointer
       to the string "." .

       The basename() function may modify the string pointed to by path, and may return a pointer
       to static storage that may then be overwritten by a subsequent call to basename().

       The basename() function need not be reentrant. A function  that  is  not  required  to  be
       reentrant is not required to be thread-safe.

RETURN VALUE

       The basename() function shall return a pointer to the final component of path.

ERRORS

       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

   Using basename()
       The  following program fragment returns a pointer to the value lib, which is the base name
       of /usr/lib.

              #include <libgen.h>
              ...
              char *name = "/usr/lib";
              char *base;

              base = basename(name);
              ...

   Sample Input and Output Strings for basename()
       In the following table, the input string is the value pointed to by path, and  the  output
       string is the return value of the basename() function.

                                     Input String     Output String
                                     "/usr/lib"       "lib"
                                     "/usr/"          "usr"
                                     "/"              "/"
                                     "///"            "/"
                                     "//usr//lib//"   "lib"

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

RATIONALE

       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       dirname() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <libgen.h>, the Shell and
       Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, basename

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and  reproduced  in  electronic  form  from  IEEE  Std
       1003.1,  2003  Edition,  Standard  for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System
       Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  by
       the  Institute  of  Electrical  and  Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE  and  The  Open  Group
       Standard,  the  original  IEEE  and  The  Open Group Standard is the referee document. The
       original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .