.\" $OpenBSD: dirname.3,v 1.17 2007/05/31 19:19:28 jmc Exp $ .\" .\" Copyright (c) 1997 Todd C. Miller <Todd.Miller@courtesan.com> .\" .\" Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any .\" purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above .\" copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. .\" .\" THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES .\" WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF .\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR .\" ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES .\" WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN .\" ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF .\" OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. .\" .\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/gen/dirname.3,v 1.10 2008/11/03 05:19:45 delphij Exp $ .\" .Dd October 12, 2006 .Dt DIRNAME 3 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm dirname .Nd extract the directory part of a pathname .Sh SYNOPSIS .In libgen.h .Ft char * .Fo dirname .Fa "char *path" .Fc .Ft char * .Fo dirname_r .Fa "const char *path" "char *dname" .Fc .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Fn dirname function is the converse of .Xr basename 3 ; it returns a pointer to the parent directory of the pathname pointed to by .Fa path . Any trailing .Sq \&/ characters are not counted as part of the directory name. If .Fa path is a null pointer, the empty string, or contains no .Sq \&/ characters, .Fn dirname returns a pointer to the string .Qq \&. , signifying the current directory. .Sh IMPLEMENTATION NOTES The .Fn dirname function returns a pointer to internal storage space allocated on the first call that will be overwritten by subsequent calls. .Fn dirname_r is therefore preferred for threaded applications. .Pp Other vendor implementations of .Fn dirname may modify the contents of the string passed to .Fn dirname ; if portability is desired, this should be taken into account when writing code which calls this function. .Sh LEGACY SYNOPSIS .Fd #include <libgen.h> .Pp .Ft char * .br .Fo dirname .Fa "const char *path" .Fc ; .Pp In legacy mode, .Fa path will not be changed. .Sh RETURN VALUES On successful completion, .Fn dirname returns a pointer to the parent directory of .Fa path . .Pp If .Fn dirname fails, a null pointer is returned and the global variable .Va errno is set to indicate the error. .Sh ERRORS The following error codes may be set in .Va errno : .Bl -tag -width Er .It Bq Er ENAMETOOLONG The path component to be returned was larger than .Dv MAXPATHLEN . .It Bq Er ENOMEM The static buffer used for storing the path in .Fn dirname could not be allocated. .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr basename 1 , .Xr dirname 1 , .Xr basename 3 , .Xr compat 5 .Sh STANDARDS The .Fn dirname function conforms to .St -xpg4.2 . .Sh HISTORY The .Fn dirname function first appeared in .Ox 2.2 and .Fx 4.2 . The .Fn dirname_r function first appeared in OS X 10.12. .Sh AUTHORS .An "Todd C. Miller"