basename -- display file name component of path name

basename strips off the leading part of a path name, leaving only the final component of the name, which is assumed to be the file name. To accomplish this, basename first checks to see if name consists of nothing but slash (/) or backslash (\) characters. If so, basename replaces name with a single slash and the process is complete. If not, basename removes any trailing slashes. If slashes still remain, basename strips off all leading characters up to and including the final slash. Finally, if you specify suffix and the remaining portion of name contains a suffix which matches suffix, basename removes that suffix.

EXAMPLES

The command

basename src/dos/printf.c .c

produces

printf

DIAGNOSTICS

Possible exit status values are:

0

Successful completion.

1

Failure due to any of the following:

— unknown command line option

— incorrect number of arguments

NOTE

basename is provided as both an external utility and a built-in MKS KornShell utility.

PORTABILITY

POSIX.2. x/OPEN Portability Guide 4.0. All UNIX systems. Windows 10. Windows Server 2016. Windows Server 2019. Windows 11. Windows Server 2022. Windows Server 2025.

On Windows systems, basename strips all characters up to and including the final backslash or slash. On UNIX and POSIX-compliant systems, backslashes are valid file name characters and are not considered delimiters.

AVAILABILITY

PTC MKS Toolkit for Power Users
PTC MKS Toolkit for System Administrators
PTC MKS Toolkit for Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Interoperability
PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers 64-Bit Edition
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers 64-Bit Edition

basename
display file name component of path name

Command, KornShell Built-in

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION