File::Basename(3) File::Basename(3)
NAME
fileparse - split a pathname into pieces
basename - extract just the filename from a path
dirname - extract just the directory from a path
SYNOPSIS
use File::Basename;
($name,$path,$suffix) = fileparse($fullname,@suffixlist)
fileparse_set_fstype($os_string);
$basename = basename($fullname,@suffixlist);
$dirname = dirname($fullname);
($name,$path,$suffix) = fileparse("lib/File/Basename.pm","\.pm");
fileparse_set_fstype("VMS");
$basename = basename("lib/File/Basename.pm",".pm");
$dirname = dirname("lib/File/Basename.pm");
DESCRIPTION
These routines allow you to parse file specifications into useful pieces
using the syntax of different operating systems.
fileparse_set_fstype
You select the syntax via the routine fileparse_set_fstype().
If the argument passed to it contains one of the substrings "VMS",
"MSDOS", "MacOS", "AmigaOS" or "MSWin32", the file specification
syntax of that operating system is used in future calls to
fileparse(), basename(), and dirname(). If it contains none of these
substrings, UNIX syntax is used. This pattern matching is case-
insensitive. If you've selected VMS syntax, and the file
specification you pass to one of these routines contains a "/", they
assume you are using UNIX emulation and apply the UNIX syntax rules
instead, for that function call only.
If the argument passed to it contains one of the substrings "VMS",
"MSDOS", "MacOS", "AmigaOS", "os2", "MSWin32" or "RISCOS", then the
pattern matching for suffix removal is performed without regard for
case, since those systems are not case-sensitive when opening
existing files (though some of them preserve case on file creation).
If you haven't called fileparse_set_fstype(), the syntax is chosen by
examining the builtin variable $^O according to these rules.
fileparse
The fileparse() routine divides a file specification into three
parts: a leading path, a file name, and a suffix. The path contains
everything up to and including the last directory separator in the
input file specification. The remainder of the input file
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File::Basename(3) File::Basename(3)
specification is then divided into name and suffix based on the
optional patterns you specify in @suffixlist. Each element of this
list is interpreted as a regular expression, and is matched against
the end of name. If this succeeds, the matching portion of name is
removed and prepended to suffix. By proper use of @suffixlist, you
can remove file types or versions for examination.
You are guaranteed that if you concatenate path, name, and suffix
together in that order, the result will denote the same file as the
input file specification.
EXAMPLES
Using UNIX file syntax:
($base,$path,$type) = fileparse('/virgil/aeneid/draft.book7',
'\.book\d+');
would yield
$base eq 'draft'
$path eq '/virgil/aeneid/',
$type eq '.book7'
Similarly, using VMS syntax:
($name,$dir,$type) = fileparse('Doc_Root:[Help]Rhetoric.Rnh',
'\..*');
would yield
$name eq 'Rhetoric'
$dir eq 'Doc_Root:[Help]'
$type eq '.Rnh'
basename
The basename() routine returns the first element of the list
produced by calling fileparse() with the same arguments, except that
it always quotes metacharacters in the given suffixes. It is
provided for programmer compatibility with the UNIX shell command
basename(1).
dirname
The dirname() routine returns the directory portion of the input
file specification. When using VMS or MacOS syntax, this is
identical to the second element of the list produced by calling
fileparse() with the same input file specification. (Under VMS, if
there is no directory information in the input file specification,
then the current default device and directory are returned.) When
using UNIX or MSDOS syntax, the return value conforms to the
behavior of the UNIX shell command dirname(1). This is usually the
same as the behavior of fileparse(), but differs in some cases. For
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File::Basename(3) File::Basename(3)
example, for the input file specification lib/, fileparse()
considers the directory name to be lib/, while dirname() considers
the directory name to be .).
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