Question

Given a string file path such as /foo/fizzbuzz.bar, how would I use bash to extract just the fizzbuzz portion of said string?

Answer 1

Here’s how to do it with the # and % operators in Bash.

$ x='/foo/fizzbuzz.bar' $ y=${x%.bar} $ echo ${y##*/} fizzbuzz 

${x%.bar} could also be ${x%.*} to remove everything after a dot or ${x%%.*} to remove everything after the first dot.

Example:

$ x='/foo/fizzbuzz.bar.quux' $ y=${x%.*} $ echo $y /foo/fizzbuzz.bar $ y=${x%%.*} $ echo $y /foo/fizzbuzz 

Documentation can be found in the Bash manual. Look for ${parameter%word} and ${parameter%%word} trailing portion matching section.