# basename

## PROLOG



           This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The
           Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
           corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or
           the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
    


## NAME



           basename — 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 pointed to by _path_ consists entirely of the **'/'**
           character, _basename_() shall return a pointer to the string **"/"**.
           If the string pointed to by _path_ 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 internal storage. The returned pointer
           might be invalidated or the storage might be overwritten by a
           subsequent call to _basename_().  The returned pointer might also be
           invalidated if the calling thread is terminated.
    
           The _basename_() function need not 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 the basename() and dirname()**
           **Functions and the basename and dirname Utilities**
           .TS
    ┌───────────────┬───────────┬────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────────┬───────────┐
    │   **basename()** │           │            │   **basename** │     **Output** │  **Output** │
    │ **and dirname()** │  **String** │   **String** │ **and dirname** │   **Written by** │**Written by** │
    │ **Functions path** │**Returned by** │**Returned by** │  **Utilities** │    **basename** │ **dirname** │
    │    **Argument** │**basename()** │ **dirname()** │**string Operand** │     **Utility** │ **Utility** │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "usr"         │"usr"      │"."         │usr           │usr              │.          │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "usr/"        │"usr"      │"."         │usr/          │usr              │.          │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ ""            │"."        │"."         │""            │. or empty string│.          │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "/"           │"/"        │"/"         │/             │/                │/          │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "//"          │"/" or "//"│"/" or "//" │//            │/ or //          │/ or //    │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "///"         │"/"        │"/"         │///           │/                │/          │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "/usr/"       │"usr"      │"/"         │/usr/         │usr              │/          │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "/usr/lib"    │"lib"      │"/usr"      │/usr/lib      │lib              │/usr       │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "//usr//lib//"│"lib"      │"//usr"     │//usr//lib//  │lib              │//usr      │
    ├───────────────┼───────────┼────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────────┼───────────┤
    │ "/home//dwc// │"test"     │"/home//dwc"│/home//dwc//  │test             │/home//dwc │
    │ test"         │           │            │test          │                 │           │
    └───────────────┴───────────┴────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────────┴───────────┘
           .SH "APPLICATION USAGE" %%%SH%%% None.
    


## RATIONALE



           None.
    


## FUTURE DIRECTIONS



           None.
    


* * *