1FNMATCH(P) POSIX Programmer's Manual FNMATCH(P)
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6 fnmatch - match a filename or a pathname
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9 #include <fnmatch.h>
10 int fnmatch(const char *pattern, const char *string, int flags);
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15 The fnmatch() function shall match patterns as described in the Shell
16 and Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 2.13.1, Patterns
17 Matching a Single Character, and Section 2.13.2, Patterns Matching Mul‐
18 tiple Characters. It checks the string specified by the string argu‐
19 ment to see if it matches the pattern specified by the pattern argu‐
20 ment.
21 The flags argument shall modify the interpretation of pattern and
23 string. It is the bitwise-inclusive OR of zero or more of the flags
24 defined in <fnmatch.h>. If the FNM_PATHNAME flag is set in flags, then
25 a slash character ( '/' ) in string shall be explicitly matched by a
26 slash in pattern; it shall not be matched by either the asterisk or
27 question-mark special characters, nor by a bracket expression. If the
28 FNM_PATHNAME flag is not set, the slash character shall be treated as
29 an ordinary character.
30 If FNM_NOESCAPE is not set in flags, a backslash character ( '\' ) in
32 pattern followed by any other character shall match that second charac‐
33 ter in string. In particular, "\\" shall match a backslash in string.
34 If FNM_NOESCAPE is set, a backslash character shall be treated as an
35 ordinary character.
36 If FNM_PERIOD is set in flags, then a leading period ( '.' ) in string
38 shall match a period in pattern; as described by rule 2 in the Shell
39 and Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 2.13.3, Patterns
40 Used for Filename Expansion where the location of "leading" is indi‐
41 cated by the value of FNM_PATHNAME:
42 * If FNM_PATHNAME is set, a period is "leading" if it is the first
44 character in string or if it immediately follows a slash.
45 * If FNM_PATHNAME is not set, a period is "leading" only if it is the
47 first character of string.
48 If FNM_PERIOD is not set, then no special restrictions are placed on
50 matching a period.
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53 If string matches the pattern specified by pattern, then fnmatch()
54 shall return 0. If there is no match, fnmatch() shall return
55 FNM_NOMATCH, which is defined in <fnmatch.h>. If an error occurs,
56 fnmatch() shall return another non-zero value.
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59 No errors are defined.
60 The following sections are informative.
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64 None.
65
67 The fnmatch() function has two major uses. It could be used by an
68 application or utility that needs to read a directory and apply a pat‐
69 tern against each entry. The find utility is an example of this. It can
70 also be used by the pax utility to process its pattern operands, or by
71 applications that need to match strings in a similar manner.
72 The name fnmatch() is intended to imply filename match, rather than
74 pathname match. The default action of this function is to match file‐
75 names, rather than pathnames, since it gives no special significance to
76 the slash character. With the FNM_PATHNAME flag, fnmatch() does match
77 pathnames, but without tilde expansion, parameter expansion, or special
78 treatment for a period at the beginning of a filename.
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81 This function replaced the REG_FILENAME flag of regcomp() in early pro‐
82 posals of this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001. It provides virtually
83 the same functionality as the regcomp() and regexec() functions using
84 the REG_FILENAME and REG_FSLASH flags (the REG_FSLASH flag was proposed
85 for regcomp(), and would have had the opposite effect from FNM_PATH‐
86 NAME), but with a simpler function and less system overhead.
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89 None.
90
92 glob() , wordexp() , the Base Definitions volume of
93 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <fnmatch.h>, the Shell and Utilities volume of
94 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001
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97 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
98 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
99 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
100 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
101 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
102 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
103 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
104 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
105 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
106IEEE/The Open Group 2003 FNMATCH(P)