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), expr(1), sh(1). 

NOTES

The basename of / is /. 

CX/UX User’s Reference Manual