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BASENAME(3P)               POSIX Programmer's Manual              BASENAME(3P)

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 consists entirely of the '/' character, basename()  shall
       return  a pointer to the string "/" . If the string 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 static storage that may then be overwritten  by
       a subsequent call to basename().
       The  basename()  function need not be reentrant. A function that is not
       required to be reentrant is not required to 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 basename()
       In the following table, the input string is the  value  pointed  to  by
       path, and the output string is the return value of the basename() func-
       tion.
                           Input String     Output String
                           "/usr/lib"       "lib"
                           "/usr/"          "usr"
                           "/"              "/"
                           "///"            "/"
                           "//usr//lib//"   "lib"
APPLICATION USAGE
       None.
RATIONALE
       None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.
SEE ALSO
       dirname(), the Base Definitions volume of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,  <lib-
       gen.h>,  the  Shell and Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, base-
       name
COPYRIGHT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX),  The  Open  Group  Base
       Specifications  Issue  6,  Copyright  (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open  Group.  In  the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard
       is  the  referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                         BASENAME(3P)