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Extract filename and extension in Bash

I want to get the filename (without extension) and the extension separately.

The best solution I found so far is:

NAME=`echo "$FILE" | cut -d'.' -f1`
EXTENSION=`echo "$FILE" | cut -d'.' -f2`

This is wrong because it doesn't work if the file name contains multiple . characters. If, let's say, I have a.b.js, it will consider a and b.js, instead of a.b and js.

It can be easily done in Python with

file, ext = os.path.splitext(path)

but I'd prefer not to fire up a Python interpreter just for this, if possible.

Any better ideas?

Answer*

**No previous answer used a bash regex** 
Here's a pure bash solution that splits a **path** into:

* The _directory path_, with its trailing `/` when present 
The regex that discards the trailing `/` is so much longer that I didn't post it
* The _filename_, excluding the (last) _dot extension_
* The (last) _dot extension_, with its leading `.`

The code is meant to handle every possible case, you're welcome to try it.

``` bash
#!/bin/bash

for path; do

####### the relevant part ######

[[ $path =~ ^(\.{1,2}|.*/\.{0,2})$|^(.*/)([^/]+)(\.[^/]*)$|^(.*/)(.+)$|^(.+)(\..*)$|^(.+)$ ]]

dirpath=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}${BASH_REMATCH[2]}${BASH_REMATCH[5]}
filename=${BASH_REMATCH[3]}${BASH_REMATCH[6]}${BASH_REMATCH[7]}${BASH_REMATCH[9]}
filext=${BASH_REMATCH[4]}${BASH_REMATCH[8]}

# dirpath should be non-null
[[ $dirpath ]] || dirpath='.'

################################

printf '%s=%q\n' \
 path "$path" \
 dirpath "$dirpath" \
 filename "$filename" \
 filext "$filext"

done
```

How does it work?

Basically, it ensures that only one sub-expression (delimited with `|` in the regex) is able to capture the input. Thanks to that, you can concatenate all the capture groups of the same type (for example, the ones related to the directory path) stored in `BASH_REMATCH`, because at most one will be non-null.

##### Here are the results of an extended but not exhaustive set of examples:

``` bash
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| input dirpath filename filext |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
'' . '' ''
. . '' ''
.. .. '' ''
... . .. .
.file . .file ''
.file. . .file .
.file.. . .file. .
.file.Z . .file .Z
.file.sh.Z . .file.sh .Z
file . file ''
file. . file .
file.. . file. .
file.Z . file .Z
file.sh.Z . file.sh .Z
dir/ dir/ '' ''
dir/. dir/. '' ''
dir/... dir/ .. .
dir/.file dir/ .file ''
dir/.file. dir/ .file .
dir/.file.. dir/ .file. .
dir/.file.Z dir/ .file .Z
dir/.file.x.Z dir/ .file.x .Z
dir/file dir/ file ''
dir/file. dir/ file .
dir/file.. dir/ file. .
dir/file.Z dir/ file .Z
dir/file.x.Z dir/ file.x .Z
dir./. dir./. '' ''
dir./... dir./ .. .
dir./.file dir./ .file ''
dir./.file. dir./ .file .
dir./.file.. dir./ .file. .
dir./.file.Z dir./ .file .Z
dir./.file.sh.Z dir./ .file.sh .Z
dir./file dir./ file ''
dir./file. dir./ file .
dir./file.. dir./ file. .
dir./file.Z dir./ file .Z
dir./file.x.Z dir./ file.x .Z
dir// dir// '' ''
dir//. dir//. '' ''
dir//... dir// .. .
dir//.file dir// .file ''
dir//.file. dir// .file .
dir//.file.. dir// .file. .
dir//.file.Z dir// .file .Z
dir//.file.x.Z dir// .file.x .Z
dir//file dir// file ''
dir//file. dir// file .
dir//file.. dir// file. .
dir//file.Z dir// file .Z
dir//file.x.Z dir// file.x .Z
dir.//. dir.//. '' ''
dir.//... dir.// .. .
dir.//.file dir.// .file ''
dir.//.file. dir.// .file .
dir.//.file.. dir.// .file. .
dir.//.file.Z dir.// .file .Z
dir.//.file.x.Z dir.// .file.x .Z
dir.//file dir.// file ''
dir.//file. dir.// file .
dir.//file.. dir.// file. .
dir.//file.Z dir.// file .Z
dir.//file.x.Z dir.// file.x .Z
/ / '' ''
/. /. '' ''
/.. /.. '' ''
/... / .. .
/.file / .file ''
/.file. / .file .
/.file.. / .file. .
/.file.Z / .file .Z
/.file.sh.Z / .file.sh .Z
/file / file ''
/file. / file .
/file.. / file. .
/file.Z / file .Z
/file.sh.Z / file.sh .Z
/dir/ /dir/ '' ''
/dir/. /dir/. '' ''
/dir/... /dir/ .. .
/dir/.file /dir/ .file ''
/dir/.file. /dir/ .file .
/dir/.file.. /dir/ .file. .
/dir/.file.Z /dir/ .file .Z
/dir/.file.x.Z /dir/ .file.x .Z
/dir/file /dir/ file ''
/dir/file. /dir/ file .
/dir/file.. /dir/ file. .
/dir/file.Z /dir/ file .Z
/dir/file.x.Z /dir/ file.x .Z
/dir./. /dir./. '' ''
/dir./... /dir./ .. .
/dir./.file /dir./ .file ''
/dir./.file. /dir./ .file .
/dir./.file.. /dir./ .file. .
/dir./.file.Z /dir./ .file .Z
/dir./.file.sh.Z /dir./ .file.sh .Z
/dir./file /dir./ file ''
/dir./file. /dir./ file .
/dir./file.. /dir./ file. .
/dir./file.Z /dir./ file .Z
/dir./file.x.Z /dir./ file.x .Z
/dir// /dir// '' ''
/dir//. /dir//. '' ''
/dir//... /dir// .. .
/dir//.file /dir// .file ''
/dir//.file. /dir// .file .
/dir//.file.. /dir// .file. .
/dir//.file.Z /dir// .file .Z
/dir//.file.x.Z /dir// .file.x .Z
/dir//file /dir// file ''
/dir//file. /dir// file .
/dir//file.. /dir// file. .
/dir//file.Z /dir// file .Z
/dir//file.x.Z /dir// file.x .Z
/dir.//. /dir.//. '' ''
/dir.//... /dir.// .. .
/dir.//.file /dir.// .file ''
/dir.//.file. /dir.// .file .
/dir.//.file.. /dir.// .file. .
/dir.//.file.Z /dir.// .file .Z
/dir.//.file.x.Z /dir.// .file.x .Z
/dir.//file /dir.// file ''
/dir.//file. /dir.// file .
/dir.//file.. /dir.// file. .
/dir.//file.Z /dir.// file .Z
/dir.//file.x.Z /dir.// file.x .Z
// // '' ''
//. //. '' ''
//.. //.. '' ''
//... // .. .
//.file // .file ''
//.file. // .file .
//.file.. // .file. .
//.file.Z // .file .Z
//.file.sh.Z // .file.sh .Z
//file // file ''
//file. // file .
//file.. // file. .
//file.Z // file .Z
//file.sh.Z // file.sh .Z
//dir/ //dir/ '' ''
//dir/. //dir/. '' ''
//dir/... //dir/ .. .
//dir/.file //dir/ .file ''
//dir/.file. //dir/ .file .
//dir/.file.. //dir/ .file. .
//dir/.file.Z //dir/ .file .Z
//dir/.file.x.Z //dir/ .file.x .Z
//dir/file //dir/ file ''
//dir/file. //dir/ file .
//dir/file.. //dir/ file. .
//dir/file.Z //dir/ file .Z
//dir/file.x.Z //dir/ file.x .Z
//dir./. //dir./. '' ''
//dir./... //dir./ .. .
//dir./.file //dir./ .file ''
//dir./.file. //dir./ .file .
//dir./.file.. //dir./ .file. .
//dir./.file.Z //dir./ .file .Z
//dir./.file.sh.Z //dir./ .file.sh .Z
//dir./file //dir./ file ''
//dir./file. //dir./ file .
//dir./file.. //dir./ file. .
//dir./file.Z //dir./ file .Z
//dir./file.x.Z //dir./ file.x .Z
//dir// //dir// '' ''
//dir//. //dir//. '' ''
//dir//... //dir// .. .
//dir//.file //dir// .file ''
//dir//.file. //dir// .file .
//dir//.file.. //dir// .file. .
//dir//.file.Z //dir// .file .Z
//dir//.file.x.Z //dir// .file.x .Z
//dir//file //dir// file ''
//dir//file. //dir// file .
//dir//file.. //dir// file. .
//dir//file.Z //dir// file .Z
//dir//file.x.Z //dir// file.x .Z
//dir.//. //dir.//. '' ''
//dir.//... //dir.// .. .
//dir.//.file //dir.// .file ''
//dir.//.file. //dir.// .file .
//dir.//.file.. //dir.// .file. .
//dir.//.file.Z //dir.// .file .Z
//dir.//.file.x.Z //dir.// .file.x .Z
//dir.//file //dir.// file ''
//dir.//file. //dir.// file .
//dir.//file.. //dir.// file. .
//dir.//file.Z //dir.// file .Z
//dir.//file.x.Z //dir.// file.x .Z
```

As you can see, the behaviour is different from `basename` and `dirname`.
For example `basename dir/` outputs `dir` while the regex will give you an empty filename for it. Same for `.` and `..`, those are considered directories, not filenames.

I timed it with 10000 paths of 256 characters and it took about 1 second, while the equivalent POSIX shell solution is 2x slower and solutions based on wild forking (external calls inside the `for` loop) are at least 60x slower.

**remark:** It's not necessary to test paths that contain `\n` or other notorious characters because all characters are handled the same way by the regex engine of bash. The only characters that would be able to break the current logic are `/` and `.`, intermixed or multiplied in a _currently_ unexpected way. When I first posted my answer I found a few border cases that I had to fix; I can't say that the regex is 100% bullet proof but it should be quite robust now.

---

As an aside, here's the POSIX shell solution that yields the same output:

``` sh
#!/bin/sh

for path; do

####### the relevant part ######

fullname=${path##*/}

case $fullname in
. | ..)
 dirpath="$path"
 filename=''
 filext=''
 ;;
*)
 dirpath=${path%"$fullname"}
 dirpath=${dirpath:-.} # dirpath should be non-null
 filename=${fullname#.}
 filename="${fullname%"$filename"}${filename%.*}"
 filext=${fullname#"$filename"}
 ;;
esac

################################

printf '%s=%s\n' \
 path "$path" \
 dirpath "$dirpath" \
 filename "$filename" \
 filext "$filext"

done
```
---

**postscript:** There are a few points for which some people might disagree with the results given by the above codes:

* The special case of **dotfiles**: The reason is that dotfiles **are** a UNIX concept.

* The special case of `.` and `..`: IMHO it seems obvious to treat them as directories, but most libraries don't do that and force the user to post-process the result.

* No support for double-extensions: That's because you'd need a whole database for storing all the valid double-extensions, and above all, because file extensions don't mean anything in UNIX; for example you can call a tar archive `my_tarred_files` and that's completely fine, you'll be able to `tar xf my_tarred_files` without any problem.

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Extract filename and extension in Bash

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