basename(1)            (User Environment Utilities)             basename(1)


   NAME
         basename, dirname - deliver portions of path names

   SYNOPSIS
         basename string [ suffix ]
         dirname string

   DESCRIPTION
         basename deletes any prefix ending in / and the suffix (if present in
         string) from string, and prints the result on the standard output.
         It is normally used inside substitution marks (``) within shell
         procedures.  The suffix is a pattern as defined on the ed(1) manual
         page.

         dirname delivers all but the last level of the path name in string.

   EXAMPLES
         The following example, invoked with the argument
         /home/sms/personal/mail sets the environment variable NAME to the
         file named mail and the environment variable MYMAILPATH to the string
         /home/sms/personal.

               NAME=`basename $HOME/personal/mail`
               MYMAILPATH=`dirname $HOME/personal/mail`

         This shell procedure, invoked with the argument /usr/src/bin/cat.c,
         compiles the named file and moves the output to cat in the current
         directory:
               cc $1
               mv a.out `basename $1 .c`

   SEE ALSO
         ed(1), sh(1).




















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