DIRNAME(3) BSD Library Functions Manual DIRNAME(3)
NAME
dirname -- report the parent directory name of a file pathname
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <libgen.h>
char *
dirname(char *path);
DESCRIPTION
The dirname() function takes a pointer to a character string that contains a pathname, path, and returns a pointer to a string that is a
pathname of the parent directory of path. Trailing '/' characters in path are not counted as part of the path.
If path does not contain a '/', then dirname() returns a pointer to the string ``.''.
If path is a null pointer or points to an empty string, dirname() returns a pointer to the string ``.''.
RETURN VALUES
The dirname() function returns a pointer to a string that is the parent directory of path.
SEE ALSO
dirname(1), basename(3)
STANDARDS
o X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2 (``XPG4.2'')
o IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'')
BUGS
If the length of the result is longer than PATH_MAX bytes (including the terminating nul), the result will be truncated.
The dirname() function returns a pointer to static storage that may be overwritten by subsequent calls to dirname(). This is not strictly a
bug; it is explicitly allowed by IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (``POSIX.1'').
BSD
May 10, 2008 BSD
