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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 .