---
name: "getprogname"
section: "3"
platform: "linux"
package: "libbsd-dev"
version: "0.8.3-1"
release: "Debian 9 (Stretch)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/getprogname"
---

# getprogname(3)

get or set the program name

## NAME

**getprogname**, **setprogname** – get or set the program name

## LIBRARY

library “libbsd”

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<bsd/stdlib.h\>**

*const* *char* *\**\

**getprogname**(*void*);

*void*\

**setprogname**(*const char \*progname*);

## DESCRIPTION

The **getprogname**() and **setprogname**() functions manipulate the name of the current program. They are used by error-reporting routines to produce consistent output.

The **getprogname**() function returns the name of the program. If the name has not been set yet, it will return NULL.

The **setprogname**() function sets the name of the program to be the last component of the *progname* argument. Since a pointer to the given string is kept as the program name, it should not be modified for the rest of the program's lifetime.

In FreeBSD, the name of the program is set by the start-up code that is run before **main**(); thus, running **setprogname**() is not necessary. Programs that desire maximum portability should still call it; on another operating system, these functions may be implemented in a portability library. Calling **setprogname**() allows the aforementioned library to learn the program name without modifications to the start-up code.

## SEE ALSO

[err(3)](/err/3.md), [setproctitle(3)](/setproctitle/3.md)

## HISTORY

These functions first appeared in NetBSD 1.6, and made their way into FreeBSD 4.4.