Linux/macOS - Shell - Extract Filename and/or File-Extension

Hans — Sun, 23 Apr 2023 09:03:02 +0000

Few tricks I found useful when tinkering with some of my media files. Works under Linux and macOS. (Bash, zsh, etc)

Extract filename from a path, for example

MyFilename="/path/to/my/some_file.mp4"
echo "${MyFilename##*/}"

Results in:

some_file.mp4

The magic is to be found in "##*/"

Extract file extension

MyFilename="/path/to/my/some_file.mp4"
echo "${MyFilename#*.}"

Results in:

mp4

and here the magic is in "#*."

Linux/macOS - Shell - Extract Filename and/or File-Extension - Linux Software