Strip directory and suffix from filenames
Syntax
basename string [suffix]
basename [-a] [-s suffix] string [...]
Key
-a Treat every argument as a string
(as if basename were invoked with just one argument)
-s The suffix is taken as its argument, all other arguments are treated as a string.
The basename utility deletes any prefix ending with the last slash / character present in string (presumably a filename), after first stripping any trailing slashes, and a suffix, if given. The suffix is not stripped if it is identical to the remaining characters in string. The resulting filename is written to the standard output.
MacOS is not case sensitive and basename does not consult the file system to see if the case is correct or even that the path exists at all.
A non-existent suffix is ignored.
basename will exit 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.
Set the shell variable FOO to /usr/bin
$ FOO=`dirname /usr/bin/trail`
$ echo $FOO
/usr/bin/
Set the shell variable FOO to the basename of iMovie.app:
$ FOO=`basename /Applications/imovie.app`
$ echo $FOO
imovie.app
For each of the files found in directoryA delete the matching files from directoryB:
$ for file in directoryA /*; do rm directoryB /`basename $file`; done
“Then I came up with this crazy idea just to walk out on the stage with no band at all and just start singing whatever came to mind. I actually fought the idea for a while because it seemed almost too radical, but it became obvious what I was supposed to be doing” ~ Bobby McFerrin
Local man page: basename – Command line help page on your local machine.
dirname – return filename or directory portion of pathname.
basename – Strip directory and suffix from filenames.
ls – List information about file(s).
Equivalent Windows command: Variable Substring