NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     basename - return the last component of a pathname

LIBRARY    [Toc]    [Back]

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     #include <libgen.h>

     char *
     basename(char *path);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The basename() function takes the pathname pointed to by path and returns
     a pointer to the final component of the pathname, deleting and trailing
     '/' characters.

     If path consists entirely of '/' characters, basename() returns a pointer
     to the string "/".

     If path is a null pointer or points to an empty string, basename()
     returns a pointer to the string ".".

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     The basename() function returns a pointer to the final component of path.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     dirname(3)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     +o   X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4.2 (``XPG4.2'')
     +o

BUGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     If the length of the result is longer than PATH_MAX bytes (including the
     terminating nul), the result will be truncated.

     The basename() function returns a pointer to static storage that may be
     overwritten by subsequent calls to basename().  This is not strictly a
     bug; it is explcitly allowed by .

BSD                            October 16, 2002                            BSD