BASENAME(3)               OpenBSD Programmer's Manual              BASENAME(3)

NAME
     basename - extract the base portion of a pathname

SYNOPSIS
     #include <libgen.h>

     char *
     basename(const char *path);

DESCRIPTION
     The basename() function returns the last component from the pathname
     pointed to by path, deleting any trailing `/' characters.  If path con-
     sists entirely of `/' characters, a pointer to the string "/" is re-
     turned.  If path is a null pointer or the empty string, a pointer to the
     string "." is returned.

RETURN VALUES
     On successful completion, basename() returns a pointer to the last compo-
     nent of path.

     If basename() 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
     basename() returns a pointer to internal static storage space that will
     be overwritten by subsequent calls.

SEE ALSO
     basename(1), dirname(1), dirname(3)

STANDARDS
     The basename() function conforms to X/Open Portability Guide Issue 4.2
     (``XPG4.2'').

HISTORY
     The basename() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.2.

AUTHORS
     Todd C. Miller

OpenBSD 3.5                     August 17, 1997                              1
