fileparse - split a pathname into pieces

basename - extract just the filename from a path

dirname - extract just the directory from a path

    use File::Basename;

    ($name,$path,$suffix) = fileparse($fullname,@suffixlist);
    $name = fileparse($fullname,@suffixlist);
    fileparse_set_fstype($os_string);
    $basename = basename($fullname,@suffixlist);
    $dirname = dirname($fullname);

    ($name,$path,$suffix) = fileparse("lib/File/Basename.pm",qr{\.pm});
    fileparse_set_fstype("VMS");
    $basename = basename("lib/File/Basename.pm",".pm");
    $dirname = dirname("lib/File/Basename.pm");

These routines allow you to parse file specifications into useful pieces using the syntax of different operating systems.

fileparse_set_fstype

You select the syntax via the routine fileparse_set_fstype(). If the argument passed to it contains one of the substrings VMS, MSDOS, MacOS, AmigaOS or MSWin32, the file specification syntax of that operating system is used in future calls to fileparse(), basename(), and dirname(). If it contains none of these substrings, Unix syntax is used. This pattern matching is case-insensitive. If you've selected VMS syntax, and the file specification you pass to one of these routines contains a /, they assume you are using Unix emulation and apply the Unix syntax rules instead, for that function call only. If the argument passed to it contains one of the substrings VMS, MSDOS, MacOS, AmigaOS, os2, MSWin32 or RISCOS, then the pattern matching for suffix removal is performed without regard for case, since those systems are not case-sensitive when opening existing files (though some of them preserve case on file creation). If you haven't called fileparse_set_fstype(), the syntax is chosen by examining the builtin variable CW$^O according to these rules.

fileparse

The fileparse() routine divides a file specification into three parts: a leading path, a file name, and a suffix. The path contains everything up to and including the last directory separator in the input file specification. The remainder of the input file specification is then divided into name and suffix based on the optional patterns you specify in CW@suffixlist. Each element of this list can be a qr-quoted pattern (or a string which is interpreted as a regular expression), and is matched against the end of name. If this succeeds, the matching portion of name is removed and prepended to suffix. By proper use of CW@suffixlist, you can remove file types or versions for examination. You are guaranteed that if you concatenate path, name, and suffix together in that order, the result will denote the same file as the input file specification. In scalar context, fileparse() returns only the name part of the filename.

Using Unix file syntax:

    ($base,$path,$type) = fileparse('/virgil/aeneid/draft.book7',
                                    qr{\.book\d+});

would yield

    $base eq 'draft'
    $path eq '/virgil/aeneid/',
    $type eq '.book7'

Similarly, using VMS syntax:

    ($name,$dir,$type) = fileparse('Doc_Root:[Help]Rhetoric.Rnh',
                                   qr{\..*});

would yield

    $name eq 'Rhetoric'
    $dir  eq 'Doc_Root:[Help]'
    $type eq '.Rnh'