command line - Bash - how to remove trailing "/bin/java" in commandline? -

i cannot work out, seems command in awk not enough:

basically i'd extract information simple linux ls -l:

ls -l /etc/alternatives/java  lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 29 apr  5 12:28 /etc/alternatives/java -> /jre/ibm/jdk6sr10fp1/bin/java

i use awk retrieve part:

 ls /etc/alternatives/java -l | awk -f"->" '{print $2}'  /jre/ibm/jdk6sr10fp1/bin/java

as need remove trailing /bin/java make valid $java_home, how in bash?

all want is:

/jre/ibm/jdk6sr10fp1

many in advance

suppose assigned value /jre/ibm/jdk6sr10fp1/bin/java java_home using command substitution:

java_home=$(ls /etc/alternatives/java -l | awk -f"->" '{print $2}')

then can remove trailing part using

java_home=${java_home%/bin/java}

for more information, see, example section manipulating strings

Bready