basename - return filename or directory portion of pathname
basename string [suffix]
basename [-a] [-d] [-s suffix] [-z] string [...]
The basename utility deletes any prefix ending with the last slash character ('/' under Unix-like Operating Systems or '\' under Windows operating Systems) present in string (after first stripping trailing slashes), and a suffix, if given. The suffix is not stripped if it is identical to the remaining characters in string. The resulting filename is written to the standard output. A non-existent suffix is ignored. If -a is specified, then every argument is treated as a string as if basename were invoked with just one argument. If -s is specified, then the suffix is taken as its argument, and all other arguments are treated as a string.
The -d option instead prints the directory component, that is, string up to but not including the final slash. If the string contains no slash, a period and newline are printed.
| Options | Use |
|---|---|
| -a|--multiple | Support multiple arguments and treat each as a name |
| -d|--dirname | Print the directory component instead |
| -s|--suffix SUFFIX | Remove trailing SUFFIX. Implies -a |
| -z|--zero | End each output line with NUL, not newline |
| --debug | Enable debug mode |
| --help|-? | Print usage and a short help message and exit |
| --version | Print version and exit |
| -- | Options processing terminator |
Contrary to the original FreeBSD basename command, this version takes the POSIXLY_CORRECT environment variable into account, disabling all the command's options except the options terminator (--).
The basename utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
dirname(1) csh(1), sh(1), basename(3)
The basename utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) compatible.
This version is fully compatible with the FreeBSD version (apart from the help and error messages). It also implements the GNU coreutils version specific options ( --multiple --suffix -z --zero ) and the Plan 9 and Inferno operating systems -d option for dirname(1) behaviour.
It tries to follow the PEP 8 style guide for Python code.
Tested OK under Windows (though with backslashes instead os slashes, of course).
The basename utility first appeared in 4.4BSD.
This version was made for the PNU project in order to test the b2bt command.
This utility is available under the 3-clause BSD license.
This version was written by Hubert Tournier.
The man page is derived from the FreeBSD project's one.