basename
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. basename is a standard UNIX computer program. 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.
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
Performance
Since basename accepts only one operand, its usage within the inner loop of shell scripts can be detrimental to performance. Consider
while read file; do
basename "$file" ;
done < ''some-input''
The above excerpt would cause a separate process invocation for each line of input. For this reason, shell substitution is typically used instead
echo "${file##*/}";
Note that this handles trailing slashes differently than basename.
See also
External links
- : return non-directory portion of a pathname – Commands & Utilities Reference, The Single UNIX® Specification, Issue 7 from The Open Group
