Editing Basename

{{Short description|Shell command for extracting the last name from a path}}
{{lowercase}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = basename
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = 
| screenshot size        = 
| caption                = 
| developer              = 
| released               = {{Start date and age|1979|1}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = 
| programming language   = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating system       = [[Unix]], [[Unix-like]], [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]], [[Inferno (operating system)|Inferno]]
| platform               = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre                  = [[Command (computing)|Command]]
| license                = [[coreutils]]: [[GPLv3+]]<br />Plan 9: [[MIT License]]
| website                = 
}}
'''<code>basename</code>''' is a [[shell (computing)|shell]] [[command (computing)|command]] for extracting the last name of a [[file path]].

The command was introduced in [[X/Open]] Portability Guidelines issue 2 of 1987. It was inherited into the first version of [[POSIX]] and the [[Single Unix Specification]].<ref>{{man|cu|basename|SUS}}</ref> It first appeared in 4.4BSD.<ref>{{man|1|basename|FreeBSD}}</ref> The version in [[GNU Core Utilities]] was written by David MacKenzie.<ref>{{man|1|basename|Linux}}</ref> The command is available for [[Windows]] as part of the [[GnuWin32]] project<ref>[http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/coreutils.htm CoreUtils for Windows]</ref> and [[UnxUtils]].<ref>[http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/ Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities]</ref>

==Use==
The [[Single UNIX Specification]] is: {{code|basename path [suffix]}}. The required argument, <code>path</code>, is a file path string. The second argument, which is optional, is text to remove from the end of the last name if it ends with the text.

==Examples==

The command reports the last part of a path ignoring any trailing slashes.

<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki 
base.wiki

$ basename /home/jsmith/
jsmith
</syntaxhighlight>

If the suffix argument is included and matches the end of the last name, then that text is removed from the result.

<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki .wiki
base

$ basename /home/jsmith/base.wiki xx
base.wiki
</syntaxhighlight>

==See also==
* {{Annotated link|dirname}}
* {{Annotated link|List of POSIX commands}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikibooks|Guide to Unix|Commands}}
*{{man|cu|basename|SUS|return non-directory portion of a pathname}}
*{{man|1|basename|Plan 9}}
*{{man|1|basename|Inferno}}
*{{man|1|basename|die.net}}
*{{man|1|basename|OpenBSD}}

{{Unix commands}}
{{Plan 9 commands}}
{{Core Utilities commands}}

[[Category:Standard Unix programs|Basename]]
[[Category:Unix SUS2008 utilities]]
[[Category:Plan 9 commands]]
[[Category:Inferno (operating system) commands]]
[[Category:IBM i Qshell commands]]