my $path = "/dir1/dir2/dir3/ .. /dirn-1/dirLast//";
    my @pathary = split(/\//,$path);
    my $parentpath = join('/',@pathary[0..$#pathary-1]);
#    pop @path;                            # also
#    my $parentpath = join('/',@pathary);  # works
    print "$path\n$parentpath\n";