--- path-manipulation.bash	2009-08-07 09:04:23.000000000 -0400
+++ path-manipulation-fixed.bash	2009-08-11 15:52:07.000000000 -0400
@@ -14,14 +14,90 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
 # eselect.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-# basename wrapper
+# basename function
 basename() {
-	echo "${1##*/}"
+	pstr=${1}
+
+	#strip trailing slashes as long as they're there and we're not down to the
+	#string consisting of only a single slash
+	while [[ ${pstr:$(( ${#pstr} - 1 ))} == '/' && ${#pstr} > 1 ]]; do
+		pstr=${pstr%/}
+	done
+
+	#do more processing if we don't have just a single slash
+	if [[ ${pstr} != '/' ]]; then
+		#strip everything before the last slash
+		pstr=${pstr##*/}
+
+		#strip the optional suffix if present
+		[[ ${2} != ${pstr} ]] && pstr=${pstr%${2}}
+	fi
+
+	echo "${pstr}"
+
+	return 0
 }
 
-# dirname wrapper
+# dirname function
 dirname() {
-	echo "${1%/*}"
+	pstr=${1}
+
+	if [[ ${#pstr} == 0 ]]; then
+		#we return a '.' for the empty string
+		pstr='.'
+	
+	else
+		#strip trailing slashes
+		while [[ ${pstr:$(( ${#pstr} - 1 ))} == '/' && ${#pstr} > 1 ]]; do
+			pstr=${pstr%/}
+		done
+
+		#only continue if we have more than a single slash
+		if [[ ${pstr} != '/' ]]; then
+
+			#check for slashes in the string
+			str_has_dirsep ${pstr}
+			if [[ $? == 0 ]]; then
+				#strip non-slash characters
+				let lastind="${#pstr} - 1"
+				while [[ $lastind > 0 && ${pstr:$lastind} != '/' ]]; do
+					pstr=${pstr:0:$lastind}
+					let lastind="${#pstr} - 1"
+				done
+
+				#strip slash characters
+				let lastind="${#pstr} - 1"
+				while [[ $lastind > 0 && ${pstr:$lastind} == '/' ]]; do
+					pstr=${pstr%/}
+					let lastind="${#pstr} - 1"
+				done
+
+			else
+				#there are no slash characters, dirname is cwd
+				pstr='.'
+			fi
+
+		fi
+
+	fi
+
+	echo ${pstr}
+}
+
+#helper for dirname, returns 0 if the string contains a slash, 1 if not
+str_has_dirsep() {
+	str=${1}
+
+	iter=0
+	while [ $iter -lt ${#str} ]; do
+		if [[ ${str:$iter:1} == '/' ]]; then
+			return 0
+		fi
+		let iter++
+	done
+
+	#if we get here, there were no slashes
+	return 1
 }
 
 canonicalise() {