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| Chapter 2 UNIX Commands |

## basename

    basename pathname [suffix]

Given a `pathname`, strip the path prefix and leave just the filename, which is printed on standard output. If specified, a filename `suffix` (e.g., .c) is removed also. basename is typically invoked via command substitution (``` ```) to generate a filename. See also dirname.

### Example

Given the following fragment from a Bourne shell script:

>     prog_name="`basename $0`"
>     echo "$prog_name: QUITTING: can't open $ofile"/
>          1>&2 ; exit 1

If the script is called do_it, then the following message would be printed on standard error:

>     do_it: QUITTING: can't open output_file

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