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Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 15:44:47 -0800
From: Brian Dessent <brian AT dessent DOT net>
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To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: basename(1) defect
References: <BAY17-F264FD27756C0B2E6BBFF2ADC550 AT phx DOT gbl>
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Stan Tsu wrote:

> This is a bug with basename 5.3.0 found in the latest Cygwin 1.5.15.1.

1.5.15 was three releases ago, it's most certainly not the latest.  But
that's not really relevant to your question, I don't think.

> $ basename NA A
> N
> $ basename N/A A
> A                           <====== should return 'N/'
> 
> Even with quoting:
> 
> $ basename 'NA' A
> N
> $ basename 'N/A' A
> A                           <====== should return 'N/'

The purpose of basename is to "remove any leading directory components
from NAME."  (from "info basename".)  So I don't see any conceivable
scenario where returning N/ (a leading directory component) could ever
be considered correct behavior, regardless of past behavior.  Maybe you
are trying to use basename to do general-purpose string processing, but
it is not designed for this.  It's intended to take a filename and strip
off any leading directory components, and optionally remove a trailing
suffix from the resulting filename.

If you just want to remove a trailing string I suggest you just use
bash's built in parameter expansion:

$ FCF="N/A"; Z=${FCF:(-1)}; echo ${FCF%$Z}

Brian

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