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DIRNAME(3) BSD Library Functions Manual DIRNAME(3) NAME dirname -- extract the directory part of a pathname SYNOPSIS #include <libgen.h> char * dirname(char *path); DESCRIPTION The dirname() function is the converse of basename(3); it returns a pointer to the parent directory of the pathname pointed to by path. Any trailing `/' characters are not counted as part of the directory name. If path is a null pointer, the empty string, or contains no `/' charac-ters, characters, ters, dirname() returns a pointer to the string ".", signifying the cur-rent current rent directory. RETURN VALUES On successful completion, dirname() returns a pointer to the parent directory of path. If dirname() fails, a null pointer is returned and the global variable errno is set to indicate the error. ERRORS The following error codes may be set in errno: [ENAMETOOLONG] The path component to be returned was larger than MAXPATHLEN. WARNINGS The dirname() function returns a pointer to internal static storage space that will be overwritten by subsequent calls (each function has its own separate storage). Other vendor implementations of dirname() may modify the contents of the string passed to dirname(); if portability is desired, this should be taken into account when writing code which calls this function. LEGACY SYNOPSIS #include <libgen.h> char * dirname(const char *path); In legacy mode, path will not be changed. SEE ALSO basename(1), dirname(1), basename(3), compat(5) STANDARDS The dirname() function conforms to X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4, Version 2 (``XPG4.2''). HISTORY The dirname() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.2 and FreeBSD 4.2. AUTHORS Todd C. Miller <Todd.Miller@courtesan.com> BSD August 17, 1997 BSD |