NAME

basename —

extract the base portion of a pathname

SYNOPSIS

#include <libgen.h>

char *
basename(char *path);

DESCRIPTION

The basename() function returns the last component from the pathname pointed to by path, deleting any trailing ‘/’ characters.

IMPLEMENTATION NOTES

This implementation of basename() uses the buffer provided by the caller to store the resulting pathname component. Other vendor implementations may return a pointer to internal storage space instead. The advantage of the former approach is that it ensures thread-safety, while also placing no upper limit on the supported length of the pathname.

RETURN VALUES

If path consists entirely of ‘/’ characters, a pointer to the string “/” is returned. If path is a null pointer or the empty string, a pointer to the string “.” is returned. Otherwise, it returns a pointer to the last component of path.

STANDARDS

The basename() function conforms to X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2 (“XPG4.2”).

HISTORY

The basename() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.2 and FreeBSD 4.2.

In FreeBSD 12.0, this function was reimplemented to store its result in the provided input buffer. There is no longer any need to use the basename_r() function.

AUTHORS

Nuxi, the Netherlands