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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 `/' characters, dirname() returns a
     pointer to the string ".", signifying the current 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