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 .

IEEE/The Open Group                                   2003                                           BASENAME(P)