{ "content": [ { "type": "text", "text": "# GLOB(7) (man)\n\n**Summary:** glob - globbing pathnames\n\n## See Also\n\n- sh(1)\n- fnmatch(3)\n- glob(3)\n- locale(7)\n- regex(7)\n\n## Section Outline\n\n- **NAME** (2 lines)\n- **DESCRIPTION** (8 lines) — 6 subsections\n - Wildcard matching (8 lines)\n - Character classes (6 lines)\n - Ranges (6 lines)\n - Complementation (9 lines)\n - Pathnames (8 lines)\n - Empty lists (23 lines)\n- **NOTES** (1 lines) — 2 subsections\n - Regular expressions (8 lines)\n - Character classes and internationalization (33 lines)\n- **SEE ALSO** (2 lines)\n- **COLOPHON** (7 lines)\n\n## Full Content\n\n### NAME\n\nglob - globbing pathnames\n\n### DESCRIPTION\n\nLong ago, in UNIX V6, there was a program /etc/glob that would expand wildcard patterns.\nSoon afterward this became a shell built-in.\n\nThese days there is also a library routine glob(3) that will perform this function for a user\nprogram.\n\nThe rules are as follows (POSIX.2, 3.13).\n\n#### Wildcard matching\n\nA string is a wildcard pattern if it contains one of the characters '?', '*' or '['. Glob‐\nbing is the operation that expands a wildcard pattern into the list of pathnames matching the\npattern. Matching is defined by:\n\nA '?' (not between brackets) matches any single character.\n\nA '*' (not between brackets) matches any string, including the empty string.\n\n#### Character classes\n\nAn expression \"[...]\" where the first character after the leading '[' is not an '!' matches a\nsingle character, namely any of the characters enclosed by the brackets. The string enclosed\nby the brackets cannot be empty; therefore ']' can be allowed between the brackets, provided\nthat it is the first character. (Thus, \"[][!]\" matches the three characters '[', ']' and\n'!'.)\n\n#### Ranges\n\nThere is one special convention: two characters separated by '-' denote a range. (Thus,\n\"[A-Fa-f0-9]\" is equivalent to \"[ABCDEFabcdef0123456789]\".) One may include '-' in its lit‐\neral meaning by making it the first or last character between the brackets. (Thus, \"[]-]\"\nmatches just the two characters ']' and '-', and \"[--0]\" matches the three characters '-',\n'.', '0', since '/' cannot be matched.)\n\n#### Complementation\n\nAn expression \"[!...]\" matches a single character, namely any character that is not matched\nby the expression obtained by removing the first '!' from it. (Thus, \"[!]a-]\" matches any\nsingle character except ']', 'a' and '-'.)\n\nOne can remove the special meaning of '?', '*' and '[' by preceding them by a backslash, or,\nin case this is part of a shell command line, enclosing them in quotes. Between brackets\nthese characters stand for themselves. Thus, \"[[?*\\]\" matches the four characters '[', '?',\n'*' and '\\'.\n\n#### Pathnames\n\nGlobbing is applied on each of the components of a pathname separately. A '/' in a pathname\ncannot be matched by a '?' or '*' wildcard, or by a range like \"[.-0]\". A range containing\nan explicit '/' character is syntactically incorrect. (POSIX requires that syntactically in‐\ncorrect patterns are left unchanged.)\n\nIf a filename starts with a '.', this character must be matched explicitly. (Thus, rm * will\nnot remove .profile, and tar c * will not archive all your files; tar c . is better.)\n\n#### Empty lists\n\nThe nice and simple rule given above: \"expand a wildcard pattern into the list of matching\npathnames\" was the original UNIX definition. It allowed one to have patterns that expand\ninto an empty list, as in\n\nxv -wait 0 *.gif *.jpg\n\nwhere perhaps no *.gif files are present (and this is not an error). However, POSIX requires\nthat a wildcard pattern is left unchanged when it is syntactically incorrect, or the list of\nmatching pathnames is empty. With bash one can force the classical behavior using this com‐\nmand:\n\nshopt -s nullglob\n\n(Similar problems occur elsewhere. For example, where old scripts have\n\nrm `find . -name \"*~\"`\n\nnew scripts require\n\nrm -f nosuchfile `find . -name \"*~\"`\n\nto avoid error messages from rm called with an empty argument list.)\n\n### NOTES\n\n#### Regular expressions\n\nNote that wildcard patterns are not regular expressions, although they are a bit similar.\nFirst of all, they match filenames, rather than text, and secondly, the conventions are not\nthe same: for example, in a regular expression '*' means zero or more copies of the preceding\nthing.\n\nNow that regular expressions have bracket expressions where the negation is indicated by a\n'^', POSIX has declared the effect of a wildcard pattern \"[^...]\" to be undefined.\n\n#### Character classes and internationalization\n\nOf course ranges were originally meant to be ASCII ranges, so that \"[ -%]\" stands for\n\"[ !\"#$%]\" and \"[a-z]\" stands for \"any lowercase letter\". Some UNIX implementations general‐\nized this so that a range X-Y stands for the set of characters with code between the codes\nfor X and for Y. However, this requires the user to know the character coding in use on the\nlocal system, and moreover, is not convenient if the collating sequence for the local alpha‐\nbet differs from the ordering of the character codes. Therefore, POSIX extended the bracket\nnotation greatly, both for wildcard patterns and for regular expressions. In the above we\nsaw three types of items that can occur in a bracket expression: namely (i) the negation,\n(ii) explicit single characters, and (iii) ranges. POSIX specifies ranges in an internation‐\nally more useful way and adds three more types:\n\n(iii) Ranges X-Y comprise all characters that fall between X and Y (inclusive) in the current\ncollating sequence as defined by the LCCOLLATE category in the current locale.\n\n(iv) Named character classes, like\n\n[:alnum:] [:alpha:] [:blank:] [:cntrl:]\n[:digit:] [:graph:] [:lower:] [:print:]\n[:punct:] [:space:] [:upper:] [:xdigit:]\n\nso that one can say \"[[:lower:]]\" instead of \"[a-z]\", and have things work in Denmark, too,\nwhere there are three letters past 'z' in the alphabet. These character classes are defined\nby the LCCTYPE category in the current locale.\n\n(v) Collating symbols, like \"[.ch.]\" or \"[.a-acute.]\", where the string between \"[.\" and \".]\"\nis a collating element defined for the current locale. Note that this may be a multicharac‐\nter element.\n\n(vi) Equivalence class expressions, like \"[=a=]\", where the string between \"[=\" and \"=]\" is\nany collating element from its equivalence class, as defined for the current locale. For ex‐\nample, \"[[=a=]]\" might be equivalent to \"[aáaäâ]\", that is, to \"[a[.a-acute.][.a-grave.][.a-\numlaut.][.a-circumflex.]]\".\n\n### SEE ALSO\n\nsh(1), fnmatch(3), glob(3), locale(7), regex(7)\n\n### COLOPHON\n\nThis page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the\nproject, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found\nat https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.\n\n\n\nLinux 2020-08-13 GLOB(7)\n\n" } ], "structuredContent": { "command": "GLOB", "section": "7", "mode": "man", "summary": "glob - globbing pathnames", "synopsis": null, "tldr_summary": null, "tldr_examples": [], "tldr_source": null, "flags": [], "examples": [], "see_also": [ { "name": "sh", "section": "1", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sh/1/json" }, { "name": "fnmatch", "section": "3", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/fnmatch/3/json" }, { "name": "glob", "section": "3", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/glob/3/json" }, { "name": "locale", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/locale/7/json" }, { "name": "regex", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/regex/7/json" } ], "section_outline": [ { "name": "NAME", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "DESCRIPTION", "lines": 8, "subsections": [ { "name": "Wildcard matching", "lines": 8 }, { "name": "Character classes", "lines": 6 }, { "name": "Ranges", "lines": 6 }, { "name": "Complementation", "lines": 9 }, { "name": "Pathnames", "lines": 8 }, { "name": "Empty lists", "lines": 23 } ] }, { "name": "NOTES", "lines": 1, "subsections": [ { "name": "Regular expressions", "lines": 8 }, { "name": "Character classes and internationalization", "lines": 33 } ] }, { "name": "SEE ALSO", "lines": 2, "subsections": [] }, { "name": "COLOPHON", "lines": 7, "subsections": [] } ], "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "glob - globbing pathnames\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "Long ago, in UNIX V6, there was a program /etc/glob that would expand wildcard patterns.\nSoon afterward this became a shell built-in.\n\nThese days there is also a library routine glob(3) that will perform this function for a user\nprogram.\n\nThe rules are as follows (POSIX.2, 3.13).\n", "subsections": [ { "name": "Wildcard matching", "content": "A string is a wildcard pattern if it contains one of the characters '?', '*' or '['. Glob‐\nbing is the operation that expands a wildcard pattern into the list of pathnames matching the\npattern. Matching is defined by:\n\nA '?' (not between brackets) matches any single character.\n\nA '*' (not between brackets) matches any string, including the empty string.\n" }, { "name": "Character classes", "content": "An expression \"[...]\" where the first character after the leading '[' is not an '!' matches a\nsingle character, namely any of the characters enclosed by the brackets. The string enclosed\nby the brackets cannot be empty; therefore ']' can be allowed between the brackets, provided\nthat it is the first character. (Thus, \"[][!]\" matches the three characters '[', ']' and\n'!'.)\n" }, { "name": "Ranges", "content": "There is one special convention: two characters separated by '-' denote a range. (Thus,\n\"[A-Fa-f0-9]\" is equivalent to \"[ABCDEFabcdef0123456789]\".) One may include '-' in its lit‐\neral meaning by making it the first or last character between the brackets. (Thus, \"[]-]\"\nmatches just the two characters ']' and '-', and \"[--0]\" matches the three characters '-',\n'.', '0', since '/' cannot be matched.)\n" }, { "name": "Complementation", "content": "An expression \"[!...]\" matches a single character, namely any character that is not matched\nby the expression obtained by removing the first '!' from it. (Thus, \"[!]a-]\" matches any\nsingle character except ']', 'a' and '-'.)\n\nOne can remove the special meaning of '?', '*' and '[' by preceding them by a backslash, or,\nin case this is part of a shell command line, enclosing them in quotes. Between brackets\nthese characters stand for themselves. Thus, \"[[?*\\]\" matches the four characters '[', '?',\n'*' and '\\'.\n" }, { "name": "Pathnames", "content": "Globbing is applied on each of the components of a pathname separately. A '/' in a pathname\ncannot be matched by a '?' or '*' wildcard, or by a range like \"[.-0]\". A range containing\nan explicit '/' character is syntactically incorrect. (POSIX requires that syntactically in‐\ncorrect patterns are left unchanged.)\n\nIf a filename starts with a '.', this character must be matched explicitly. (Thus, rm * will\nnot remove .profile, and tar c * will not archive all your files; tar c . is better.)\n" }, { "name": "Empty lists", "content": "The nice and simple rule given above: \"expand a wildcard pattern into the list of matching\npathnames\" was the original UNIX definition. It allowed one to have patterns that expand\ninto an empty list, as in\n\nxv -wait 0 *.gif *.jpg\n\nwhere perhaps no *.gif files are present (and this is not an error). However, POSIX requires\nthat a wildcard pattern is left unchanged when it is syntactically incorrect, or the list of\nmatching pathnames is empty. With bash one can force the classical behavior using this com‐\nmand:\n\nshopt -s nullglob\n\n(Similar problems occur elsewhere. For example, where old scripts have\n\nrm `find . -name \"*~\"`\n\nnew scripts require\n\nrm -f nosuchfile `find . -name \"*~\"`\n\nto avoid error messages from rm called with an empty argument list.)\n" } ] }, "NOTES": { "content": "", "subsections": [ { "name": "Regular expressions", "content": "Note that wildcard patterns are not regular expressions, although they are a bit similar.\nFirst of all, they match filenames, rather than text, and secondly, the conventions are not\nthe same: for example, in a regular expression '*' means zero or more copies of the preceding\nthing.\n\nNow that regular expressions have bracket expressions where the negation is indicated by a\n'^', POSIX has declared the effect of a wildcard pattern \"[^...]\" to be undefined.\n" }, { "name": "Character classes and internationalization", "content": "Of course ranges were originally meant to be ASCII ranges, so that \"[ -%]\" stands for\n\"[ !\"#$%]\" and \"[a-z]\" stands for \"any lowercase letter\". Some UNIX implementations general‐\nized this so that a range X-Y stands for the set of characters with code between the codes\nfor X and for Y. However, this requires the user to know the character coding in use on the\nlocal system, and moreover, is not convenient if the collating sequence for the local alpha‐\nbet differs from the ordering of the character codes. Therefore, POSIX extended the bracket\nnotation greatly, both for wildcard patterns and for regular expressions. In the above we\nsaw three types of items that can occur in a bracket expression: namely (i) the negation,\n(ii) explicit single characters, and (iii) ranges. POSIX specifies ranges in an internation‐\nally more useful way and adds three more types:\n\n(iii) Ranges X-Y comprise all characters that fall between X and Y (inclusive) in the current\ncollating sequence as defined by the LCCOLLATE category in the current locale.\n\n(iv) Named character classes, like\n\n[:alnum:] [:alpha:] [:blank:] [:cntrl:]\n[:digit:] [:graph:] [:lower:] [:print:]\n[:punct:] [:space:] [:upper:] [:xdigit:]\n\nso that one can say \"[[:lower:]]\" instead of \"[a-z]\", and have things work in Denmark, too,\nwhere there are three letters past 'z' in the alphabet. These character classes are defined\nby the LCCTYPE category in the current locale.\n\n(v) Collating symbols, like \"[.ch.]\" or \"[.a-acute.]\", where the string between \"[.\" and \".]\"\nis a collating element defined for the current locale. Note that this may be a multicharac‐\nter element.\n\n(vi) Equivalence class expressions, like \"[=a=]\", where the string between \"[=\" and \"=]\" is\nany collating element from its equivalence class, as defined for the current locale. For ex‐\nample, \"[[=a=]]\" might be equivalent to \"[aáaäâ]\", that is, to \"[a[.a-acute.][.a-grave.][.a-\numlaut.][.a-circumflex.]]\".\n" } ] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "sh(1), fnmatch(3), glob(3), locale(7), regex(7)\n", "subsections": [] }, "COLOPHON": { "content": "This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the\nproject, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found\nat https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.\n\n\n\nLinux 2020-08-13 GLOB(7)", "subsections": [] } } } }