NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     dirname - extract the directory portion of a pathname

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     #include <libgen.h>

     char *
     dirname(const char *path);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The dirname() function is the converse  of  basename(3);  it
returns a
     pointer  to  the parent directory of the pathname pointed to
by path.  Any
     trailing `/' characters are not counted as part of  the  directory name.
     If  path is a null pointer, the empty string, or contains no
`/' characters,
 dirname() returns a pointer to the string ".",  signifying the current
 directory.

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     On successful completion, dirname() returns a pointer to the
parent directory
 of path.

     If dirname() fails, a null pointer is returned and the global variable
     errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The following error codes may be set in errno:

     [ENAMETOOLONG]
                   The  path  component to be returned was larger
than
                   MAXPATHLEN.

WARNINGS    [Toc]    [Back]

     dirname() returns a pointer to internal static storage space
that will be
     overwritten  by  subsequent calls (each function has its own
separate storage).


     Other vendor implementations of  dirname()  may  modify  the
contents of the
     string  passed  to  dirname(); this should be taken into account when writing
 code which calls this function  if  portability  is  desired.

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     basename(1), dirname(1), basename(3)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The  dirname() function conforms to X/Open Portability Guide
Issue 4.2
     (``XPG4.2'').

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     The dirname() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.2.

AUTHORS    [Toc]    [Back]

     Todd C. Miller

OpenBSD     3.6                         August      17,      1997