Get last dirname/filename in a file path argument in Bash

The following approach can be used to get any path of a pathname:

some_path=a/b/c
echo $(basename $some_path)
echo $(basename $(dirname $some_path))
echo $(basename $(dirname $(dirname $some_path)))

Output:

c
b
a

Bash can get the last part of a path without having to call the external basename:

dir="/path/to/whatever/"
dir="${dir%/}"             # strip trailing slash (if any)
subdir="${dir##*/}"

This uses Bash's parameter expansion to remove the part of the string before the last (remaining) slash.

basename does remove the directory prefix of a path:

$ basename /usr/local/svn/repos/example
example
$ echo "/server/root/$(basename /usr/local/svn/repos/example)"
/server/root/example

To print the file name without using external commands,

Run:

fileNameWithFullPath="${fileNameWithFullPath%/}";
echo "${fileNameWithFullPath##*/}" # print the file name

This command must run faster than basename and dirname.

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