dirname

Calculate the parent directory of a given path

$ dirname [path/to/file_or_directory]

Calculate the parent directory of multiple paths

$ dirname [path/to/file_a] [path/to/directory_b]

Delimit output with a NUL character instead of a newline (useful when combining with xargs)

$ dirname --zero [path/to/directory_a] [path/to/file_b]

dirname [OPTION] NAME...

Output each NAME with its last non-slash component and trailing slashes removed; if NAME contains no /'s, output '.' (meaning the current directory).

-z, --zero

end each output line with NUL, not newline

--help

display this help and exit

--version

output version information and exit

dirname /usr/bin/

-> "/usr"

dirname dir1/str dir2/str

-> "dir1" followed by "dir2"

dirname stdio.h

-> "."

GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
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Copyright © 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

basename(1), readlink(1) Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/dirname> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) dirname invocation'

Written by David MacKenzie and Jim Meyering.