---
name: "pmlogbasename"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "pcp"
version: "7.2.2-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pmlogbasename"
---

# pmlogbasename(1)

basename of a PCP archive

## NAME

**pmlogbasename** - basename of a PCP archive

## SYNOPSIS

**pmlogbasename** \[**-D** *debug*\] *name*

## DESCRIPTION

**pmlogbasename** takes *name* (usually the name of one of the physical files in a PCP archive) and strips it of any compression suffixes then strips it of any PCP archive component suffixes, then reports the result (the basename of a PCP archive) on standard output.

The compression suffixes known to PCP are: **.xz**, **.lzma**, **.bz2**, **.bz**, **.gz**, **.Z** and **.z**.

The PCP archive component suffixes are: **.meta**, **.index** and **.***\<n\>* for any integer *\<n\>*.

For the most part the stripping is purely textual and is done without tests for the existence of any of the associated files, although if *name* does not match the pattern of a valid file name for a PCP archive then the output is *name* without any stripping.

The one exception is when *name* ends with *.N* where *N* is a sequence of 1 or more digits, in which case an ambiguity occurs. For example consider *name* to be **20241125.05.48**, where this could mean the archive basename is really **20241125.05.48** or it could mean this refers to volume **48** of the archive basename **20241125.05**. In the former case, the file *name***.meta** (or one of the compressed versions of this) should exist and *pmlogbasename* probes the filesystem to determine if such a file exists.

## DEBUGGING OPTIONS

The **-D** or **--debug** option enables the output of additional diagnostics on *stderr* to help triage problems, although the information is sometimes cryptic and primarily intended to provide guidance for developers rather than for end-users. *debug* is a comma separated list of debugging options; use [**pmdbg**(1)](/pmdbg/1.md) with the **-l** option to obtain a list of the available debugging options and their meaning.

Debugging options specific to **pmlogbasename** are as follows:

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Option | Description |
| appl0 | report the name of each file that exists and potentially matches *name* |
| appl1 | report the name of each file that does **not** exist but was probed looking for matches with *name* |

## SEE ALSO

[**PCPIntro**(1)](/PCPIntro/1.md) and [**LOGARCHIVE**(5)](/LOGARCHIVE/5.md).