${name:h<number>}: Path head

Shortens a file path by dropping trailing segments.

If <number> appears within a parameter expansion (e.g. ${name:h<number>}) and is greater than zero, then this number of leading segments are preserved instead of dropping the last one.

The root path / counts as one segment.

• $myPath:h drops the trailing segment.
• $myPath:h2 preserves the first two segments (e.g. /home) and drops all following segments.

Modifier :t is the opposite and evaluates to the tail of the path.

Links

• The Z Shell Manual on modifiers

Examples

Print parent directory of a file path

1 2	myPath="/home/user/work/data.csv" echo $myPath:h

Output:

1	/home/user/work

Convert a relative file path into absolute path and print the directory name

1 2 3

myPath="../work/data.csv" cd /home/user echo $myPath:a:h

Output:

1	/home/work