DIRNAME(1) | General Commands Manual | DIRNAME(1)

# NAME

`dirname` — return directory portion of pathname

# SYNOPSIS

`dirname` | pathname

# DESCRIPTION

`dirname` deletes the filename portion, beginning with the last slash (‘/’) character to the end of pathname, and writes the result to the standard output.

# EXIT STATUS

The `dirname` utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

# EXAMPLES

The following line sets the shell variable `FOO` to /usr/bin:

`FOO=`dirname /usr/bin/tail``

# SEE ALSO

basename(1), csh(1), sh(1), dirname(3)

# STANDARDS

The `dirname` utility is compliant with the IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 (“POSIX.1”) specification.

# HISTORY

The `dirname` utility first appeared as an expr(1) script in AT&T System III UNIX. It was reimplemented in C for 4.3BSD-Reno and reimplemented again using dirname(3) for OpenBSD 2.2.

# AUTHORS

The original BSD version was written by Keith Bostic. The current OpenBSD version was written by Todd Miller <millert@openbsd.org>.

February 16, 2014 | Debian