fnmatch(3p) — Linux manual page

FNMATCH(3P)             POSIX Programmer's Manual            FNMATCH(3P)

PROLOG

       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The
       Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the
       corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
       or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME

       fnmatch — match a filename string or a pathname

SYNOPSIS

       #include <fnmatch.h>

       int fnmatch(const char *pattern, const char *string, int flags);

DESCRIPTION

       The fnmatch() function shall match patterns as described in the
       Shell and Utilities volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 2.13.1,
       Patterns Matching a Single Character and Section 2.13.2, Patterns
       Matching Multiple Characters.  It checks the string specified by
       the string argument to see if it matches the pattern specified by
       the pattern argument.

       The flags argument shall modify the interpretation of pattern and
       string.  It is the bitwise-inclusive OR of zero or more of the
       flags defined in <fnmatch.h>.  If the FNM_PATHNAME flag is set in
       flags, then a <slash> character ('/') in string shall be
       explicitly matched by a <slash> in pattern; it shall not be
       matched by either the <asterisk> or <question-mark> special
       characters, nor by a bracket expression. If the FNM_PATHNAME flag
       is not set, the <slash> character shall be treated as an ordinary
       character.

       If FNM_NOESCAPE is not set in flags, a <backslash> character in
       pattern followed by any other character shall match that second
       character in string.  In particular, "\\" shall match a
       <backslash> in string.  If pattern ends with an unescaped
       <backslash>, fnmatch() shall return a non-zero value (indicating
       either no match or an error).  If FNM_NOESCAPE is set, a
       <backslash> character shall be treated as an ordinary character.

       If FNM_PERIOD is set in flags, then a leading <period> ('.')  in
       string shall match a <period> in pattern; as described by rule 2
       in the Shell and Utilities volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section
       2.13.3, Patterns Used for Filename Expansion where the location
       of ``leading'' is indicated by the value of FNM_PATHNAME:

        *  If FNM_PATHNAME is set, a <period> is ``leading'' if it is
           the first character in string or if it immediately follows a
           <slash>.

        *  If FNM_PATHNAME is not set, a <period> is ``leading'' only if
           it is the first character of string.

       If FNM_PERIOD is not set, then no special restrictions are placed
       on matching a period.

RETURN VALUE

       If string matches the pattern specified by pattern, then
       fnmatch() shall return 0. If there is no match, fnmatch() shall
       return FNM_NOMATCH, which is defined in <fnmatch.h>.  If an error
       occurs, fnmatch() shall return another non-zero value.

ERRORS

       No errors are defined.

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE

       The fnmatch() function has two major uses. It could be used by an
       application or utility that needs to read a directory and apply a
       pattern against each entry. The find utility is an example of
       this. It can also be used by the pax utility to process its
       pattern operands, or by applications that need to match strings
       in a similar manner.

       The name fnmatch() is intended to imply filename match, rather
       than pathname match. The default action of this function is to
       match filename strings, rather than pathnames, since it gives no
       special significance to the <slash> character. With the
       FNM_PATHNAME flag, fnmatch() does match pathnames, but without
       tilde expansion, parameter expansion, or special treatment for a
       <period> at the beginning of a filename.

RATIONALE

       This function replaced the REG_FILENAME flag of regcomp() in
       early proposals of this volume of POSIX.1‐2017. It provides
       virtually the same functionality as the regcomp() and regexec()
       functions using the REG_FILENAME and REG_FSLASH flags (the
       REG_FSLASH flag was proposed for regcomp(), and would have had
       the opposite effect from FNM_PATHNAME), but with a simpler
       function and less system overhead.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       glob(3p), Section 2.6, Word Expansions

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, fnmatch.h(0p)

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic
       form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information
       Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The
       Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright
       (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
       Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.  In the event of any
       discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The
       Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be
       obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page
       are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of
       the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

IEEE/The Open Group               2017                       FNMATCH(3P)

Pages that refer to this page: fnmatch.h(0p), glob(3p), regcomp(3p), wordexp(3p)

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