BASENAME(P) POSIX Programmer's Manual BASENAME(P)NAMEbasename - 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() func‐
tion.
Input String Output String
"/usr/lib" "lib"
"/usr/" "usr"
"/" "/"
"///" "/"
"//usr//lib//" "lib"
APPLICATION USAGE
None.
RATIONALE
None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSOdirname() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <lib‐
gen.h>, the Shell and Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, base‐
name
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)
