dirname(1)            MPE/iX Shell and Utilities            dirname(1)
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  NAME
       dirname -- display directory components of path name

  SYNOPSIS
       dirname pathname

  DESCRIPTION
       dirname strips off the trailing part of a file name.  The result
       is the path name of the directory that contains the file.  This
       is useful in shell scripts.

       Note: dirname makes no attempt to validate the path name; for
       validation, use pathchk(1).

       dirname follows these rules:

        * If pathname is //, return it.

        * Otherwise, if it is all slashes, return one slash.

        * Otherwise, remove all trailing slashes.

        * If there are no slashes remaining in pathname , return period
         (.).

        * Otherwise, remove trailing non-slash characters.

        * If the remaining string is //, return it.

        * Otherwise, remove any trailing slashes.

        * If the resulting string is empty, return period (.).

        * Otherwise, return the resulting string.

  EXAMPLES
       The command

          dirname src/lib/printf.c

       produces

          src/lib

  DIAGNOSTICS
       Possible exit status values are:

       0  Successful completion.

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  dirname(1)            MPE/iX Shell and Utilities            dirname(1)
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  PORTABILITY
       POSIX.2.  x/OPEN Portability Guide 4.0.  All UNIX systems.

  SEE ALSO
       basename(1), pathchk(1)

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