Bash – split a string into path and application

bashdebiansplit

If I have a string such as

/home/user/a/directory/myapp.app

or just

/home/user/myapp.app

how can I split this so that I just have two variables (the path and the application)

e.g.

path="/home/user/"
appl="myapp.app"

I've seen numerous examples of splitting strings, but how can I get just the last part, and combine all the rest?

Best Answer

The commands basename and dirname can be used for that, for example:

$ basename /home/user/a/directory/myapp.app 
myapp.app
$ dirname /home/user/a/directory/myapp.app 
/home/user/a/directory

For more information, do not hesitate to do man basename and man dirname.

Related Solutions

Bash – Splitting String by First Occurrence of a Delimiter

cut sounds like a suitable tool for this:

bash-4.2$ s='id;some text here with possible ; inside'

bash-4.2$ id="$( cut -d ';' -f 1 <<< "$s" )"; echo "$id"
id

bash-4.2$ string="$( cut -d ';' -f 2- <<< "$s" )"; echo "$string"
some text here with possible ; inside

But read is even more suitable:

bash-4.2$ IFS=';' read -r id string <<< "$s"

bash-4.2$ echo "$id"
id

bash-4.2$ echo "$string"
some text here with possible ; inside

Bash – Is it common to split larger script into multiple scripts and source them in the main script

Yes, it is a common practice. For example, in the early days of Unix the shell code responsible for guiding the system through its boot phases to multiuser operation was a single file, /etc/rc. Today the boot process is controlled by many shell scripts, broken up by function, with common functions and variables sourced as needed from central locations. Linux distributions, Macs, BSDs, all have adopted this approach to varying degree.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Bash – Splitting String by First Occurrence of a Delimiter

Bash – Is it common to split larger script into multiple scripts and source them in the main script

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