1FNMATCH(3P) POSIX Programmer's Manual FNMATCH(3P)
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6 This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
7 implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
8 Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9 not be implemented on Linux.
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13 fnmatch — match a filename string or a pathname
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16 #include <fnmatch.h>
17 int fnmatch(const char *pattern, const char *string, int flags);
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21 The fnmatch() function shall match patterns as described in the Shell
22 and Utilities volume of POSIX.1‐2008, Section 2.13.1, Patterns Matching
23 a Single Character and Section 2.13.2, Patterns Matching Multiple Char‐
24 acters. It checks the string specified by the string argument to see
25 if it matches the pattern specified by the pattern argument.
26 The flags argument shall modify the interpretation of pattern and
28 string. It is the bitwise-inclusive OR of zero or more of the flags
29 defined in <fnmatch.h>. If the FNM_PATHNAME flag is set in flags, then
30 a <slash> character ('/') in string shall be explicitly matched by a
31 <slash> in pattern; it shall not be matched by either the <asterisk> or
32 <question-mark> special characters, nor by a bracket expression. If the
33 FNM_PATHNAME flag is not set, the <slash> character shall be treated as
34 an ordinary character.
35 If FNM_NOESCAPE is not set in flags, a <backslash> character in pattern
37 followed by any other character shall match that second character in
38 string. In particular, "\\" shall match a <backslash> in string. If
39 FNM_NOESCAPE is set, a <backslash> character shall be treated as an
40 ordinary character.
41 If FNM_PERIOD is set in flags, then a leading <period> ('.') in string
43 shall match a <period> in pattern; as described by rule 2 in the Shell
44 and Utilities volume of POSIX.1‐2008, Section 2.13.3, Patterns Used for
45 Filename Expansion where the location of ``leading'' is indicated by
46 the value of FNM_PATHNAME:
47 * If FNM_PATHNAME is set, a <period> is ``leading'' if it is the
49 first character in string or if it immediately follows a <slash>.
50 * If FNM_PATHNAME is not set, a <period> is ``leading'' only if it is
52 the first character of string.
53 If FNM_PERIOD is not set, then no special restrictions are placed on
55 matching a period.
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58 If string matches the pattern specified by pattern, then fnmatch()
59 shall return 0. If there is no match, fnmatch() shall return
60 FNM_NOMATCH, which is defined in <fnmatch.h>. If an error occurs,
61 fnmatch() shall return another non-zero value.
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64 No errors are defined.
65 The following sections are informative.
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69 None.
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72 The fnmatch() function has two major uses. It could be used by an
73 application or utility that needs to read a directory and apply a pat‐
74 tern against each entry. The find utility is an example of this. It can
75 also be used by the pax utility to process its pattern operands, or by
76 applications that need to match strings in a similar manner.
77 The name fnmatch() is intended to imply filename match, rather than
79 pathname match. The default action of this function is to match file‐
80 name strings, rather than pathnames, since it gives no special signifi‐
81 cance to the <slash> character. With the FNM_PATHNAME flag, fnmatch()
82 does match pathnames, but without tilde expansion, parameter expansion,
83 or special treatment for a <period> at the beginning of a filename.
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86 This function replaced the REG_FILENAME flag of regcomp() in early pro‐
87 posals of this volume of POSIX.1‐2008. It provides virtually the same
88 functionality as the regcomp() and regexec() functions using the
89 REG_FILENAME and REG_FSLASH flags (the REG_FSLASH flag was proposed for
90 regcomp(), and would have had the opposite effect from FNM_PATHNAME),
91 but with a simpler function and less system overhead.
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94 None.
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97 glob(), Section 2.6, Word Expansions
98 The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <fnmatch.h>
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102 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
103 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
104 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
105 Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri‐
106 cal and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. (This is
107 POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
108 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
109 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
110 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
111 at http://www.unix.org/online.html .
112 Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
114 most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
115 files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.ker‐
116 nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
117IEEE/The Open Group 2013 FNMATCH(3P)