Issue with basename - c++11

Question

So I am having an issue using basename for one of my programming assignments for school
I have tried getting a simplier version of it working -- I got it working however, still confused exactly what I am supposed to do in this case
// $Id: util.cpp,v 1.1 2016-06-14 18:19:17-07 - - $
#include <libgen.h>
#include <cstring>
using namespace std;
#include "util.h"
ydc_exn::ydc_exn (const string& what): runtime_error (what) {
}
string exec::execname_; // Must be initialized from main().
int exec::status_ = EXIT_SUCCESS;
void exec::execname (const string& argv0) {
execname_ = basename (argv0.c_str());
cout << boolalpha;
cerr << boolalpha;
DEBUGF ('Y', "execname = " << execname_);
}
void exec::status (int new_status) {
new_status &= 0xFF;
if (status_ < new_status) status_ = new_status;
}
ostream& note() {
return cerr << exec::execname() << ": ";
}
ostream& error() {
exec::status (EXIT_FAILURE);
return note();
}
Just trying to get the code to compile --- my error message in c++ is:
'
util.cpp:15:16: error: no matching function for call to 'basename'
execname_ = basename (argv0.c_str());
^~~~~~~~
/usr/include/libgen.h:40:7: note: candidate function not viable: 1st argument ('const std::__1::basic_string<char, std::__1::char_traits<char>, std::__1::allocator<char>
>::value_type *' (aka 'const char *')) would lose const qualifier
char *basename(char *);
^
1 error generated.
make: *** [util.o] Error 1'

Answer 1

basename takes char* as argument, which is not const, meaning the function is allowed to modify the value.
const string& argv0 is const, meaning the value of argv0 must not be modified.
Thus you are not allowed to call basename with argv0.c_str() as parameter, as that would violate the const qualifier.
The error message is clear: 1st argument ... would lose const qualifier.
So either change argv0 to not be const (probably not a good idea), or change basename to take a const char* parameter (probably the better idea), or change basename to work with std::string instead of char* like the rest of your code (probably the best idea).
So apparently basename is a unix function that you cannot change. (Thanks Nevin!) From the manpage:
Both dirname() and basename() may modify the contents of path, so it may be desirable to pass a copy when calling one of these functions.
In that case I recommend creating a copy of argv0. The simplest way of doing this would be to change the signature of execname to this:
void exec::execname(std::string argv0)

Answer 2

I think that your central problem is including libgen.h as well as cstring. If you look at the prototypes for basename in those files, they're different. If you're building this on linux, you'll see a comment in the libgen.h version which should be enlightening.
https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/basename.html and
https://linux.die.net/man/3/basename are useful here too.
I suggest removing the #include <libgen.h> and trying again.