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DIRNAME(3)		    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.

IMPLEMENTATION NOTES
       This implementation of dirname()	uses the buffer	provided by the	caller
       to store	the resulting parent directory.	 Other vendor  implementations
       may  return a pointer to	internal storage space instead.	 The advantage
       of the former approach is that it  ensures  thread-safety,  while  also
       placing no upper	limit on the supported length of the pathname.

RETURN VALUES
       If path is a null pointer, the empty string, or contains	no `/' charac-
       ters,  dirname()	 returns  a  pointer to	the string ".",	signifying the
       current directory.  Otherwise, it returns a pointer to the  parent  di-
       rectory of path.

SEE ALSO
       basename(1), dirname(1),	basename(3)

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.

       In FreeBSD 12.0,	this function was reimplemented	to store its result in
       the provided input buffer.

AUTHORS
       Nuxi, the Netherlands

FreeBSD	14.3		       September 5, 2016		    DIRNAME(3)

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