BASENAME(3) Library Functions Manual BASENAME(3)
NAME
basenamereturn the last component of a pathname
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <libgen.h>
char *
basename(char *path);
DESCRIPTION
The basename() function takes the pathname pointed to by path and returns a pointer to the final component of the pathname, deleting any trailing ‘/' characters.
 
If path consists entirely of ‘/' characters, basename() returns a pointer to the string “/”.
 
If path is a null pointer or points to an empty string, basename() returns a pointer to the string “.”.
RETURN VALUES
The basename() function returns a pointer to the final component of path.
SEE ALSO
STANDARDS
X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4.2 (“XPG4.2”)
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 basename() function returns a pointer to static storage that may be overwritten by subsequent calls to basename(). This is not strictly a bug; it is explicitly allowed by IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (“POSIX.1”).