Hi, Here's the description of the basename() function in the Filesystem library: template <class Path> typename Path::string_type basename(const Path & p); Returns: if p.leaf() contains a dot, returns the substring of p.leaf() starting at its beginning and ending at the last dot (the dot is not included). Otherwise, returns p.leaf() and if I run the following program ================================================== #include <string> #include <iostream> #include<boost/filesystem/operations.hpp> namespace bf = boost::filesystem; int main() { string name("/calvin/hobbes/xx.xml"); bf::path filepath(name); cerr << "Value for basename: " << basename(filepath.string().c_str()) << endl; } ================================================== I get as a result: Value for basename: xx.xml I seems like I should be getting 'xx'. Am I not understanding the description, or is there a problem with the library. a