BASENAME(3)						   BSD Library Functions Manual 					       BASENAME(3)

NAME

     basename -- extract the base portion of a pathname

SYNOPSIS

     #include <libgen.h>

     char *
     basename(const char *path);

     char *
     basename_r(const char *path, char *bname);

DESCRIPTION

     The basename() function returns the last component from the pathname pointed to by path, deleting any trailing '/' characters.  If path con-
     sists 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.

     The basename_r() variation accepts a buffer of at least MAXPATHLEN bytes in which to store the resulting component.

IMPLEMENTATION NOTES

     The basename() function returns a pointer to internal storage space allocated on the first call that will be overwritten by subsequent calls.
     basename_r() is therefore preferred for threaded applications.

RETURN VALUES

     On successful completion, basename() and basename_r() return pointers to the last component of path.

     If they fail, a null pointer is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS

     The following error codes may be set in errno:

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

SEE ALSO

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

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.

AUTHORS

     Todd C. Miller

CAVEATS

     basename() returns a pointer to internal static storage space that will be overwritten by subsequent calls.

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

BSD
								  March 31, 2010							       BSD