basename
basename is a standard computer program on Unix and Unix-like operating systems. When basename is given a pathname, it will delete any prefix up to the last slash ('/') character and return the result. basename is described in the Single UNIX Specification and is primarily used in shell scripts.
| Initial release | January 1979 |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Unix, Unix-like, Plan 9, Inferno |
| Type | Command |
| License | coreutils: GPLv3+ |
History
basename was introduced in X/Open Portability Guidelines issue 2 of 1987.
The version of basename bundled in GNU coreutils was written by David MacKenzie.[1]
The command is available as a separate package for Microsoft Windows as part of the GnuWin32 project[2] and the UnxUtils collection of native Win32 ports of common GNU Unix-like utilities.[3]
Usage
The Single UNIX Specification specification for basename is.
basename string [suffix]
- string
- A pathname
- suffix
- If specified, basename will also delete the suffix.
Examples
basename will retrieve the last name from a pathname ignoring any trailing slashes
$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki
base.wiki
$ basename /home/jsmith/
jsmith
$ basename /
/
basename can also be used to remove the end of the base name, but not the complete base name
$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki .wiki
base
$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki ki
base.wi
$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki base.wiki
base.wiki
See also
References
- – Linux User Commands Manual
- CoreUtils for Windows
- Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities
External links
| The Wikibook Guide to Unix has a page on the topic of: Commands |