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Get parent directory of a file

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# 1  
Old 08-27-2009
Get parent directory of a file
In shell how would I get the parent directory of a file. E.g. I feed this in:

/path/to/textfile.txt

And get just:

/path/to

Thanks
# 2  
Old 08-27-2009
Code:
dirname /path/to/textfile.txt



---------- Post updated at 08:45 PM ---------- Previous update was at 08:45 PM ----------

Code:
dirname /path/to/textfile.txt



---------- Post updated at 08:47 PM ---------- Previous update was at 08:45 PM ----------

^ ^ ^ Odd, I only submitted once - no edit
# 3  
Old 08-27-2009

There is no need for dirname or any other external command. Use the shell's parameter expansion:

Code:
filepath=/path/to/textfile.txt
dirpath=${filepath%/*}

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