BASENAME(1)         RISC/os Reference Manual          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.  If string is omitted, the current direc-
     tory . is used.  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 MYMAIL-
     PATH 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).




















                        Printed 11/19/92                   Page 1