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
