You should be able to use ${BASH_SOURCE[0]} and decompose it into a directory name and a file name however you like. For example:

case ${BASH_SOURCE[0]} in
/*/*|./*|../*) _DIR_=${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*} _FILE_=${BASH_SOURCE[0]##*/} ;;
/*) _DIR_=/ _FILE_=${BASH_SOURCE##*/} ;;
/) _DIR_=$PWD/${BASH_SOURCE[0]%/*} _FILE_=${BASH_SOURCE[0]##*/} ;;
*) _DIR_=$PWD _FILE_=${BASH_SOURCE[0]}
esac

Is there some advantage to having these done internally than using code like the above? I get the impulse not to have to write that code yourself, but is that enough of a reason to add them to bash itself?

If you still have the original text, send it to -email is unavailable- or help-bash@gnu.org.

More people will see it, and it will still get archived.

I don't know exactly what this post was about, so I can't say for sure, but I suspect that help-bash users will be able to give you suggestions about what you want to do using existing bash mechanisms.

Hey, guys I just joined to ask this please forgive me if I am in the wrong place.

First of all big fan of bash, I use it a LOT