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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 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 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 2.13.1, Patterns
       Matching a Single Character, and Section 2.13.2, Patterns Matching Mul-
       tiple  Characters.   It checks the string specified by the string argu-
       ment to see if it matches the pattern specified by  the  pattern  argu-
       ment.
       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 charac-
       ter in string. In particular, "\\" shall match a backslash  in  string.
       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 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 2.13.3,  Patterns
       Used  for  Filename  Expansion where the location of "leading" is indi-
       cated 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 pat-
       tern 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 file-
       names, 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 pro-
       posals of this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.  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_PATH-
       NAME), but with a simpler function and less system overhead.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.
SEE ALSO
       glob(), wordexp(), the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
       <fnmatch.h>, the Shell and Utilities volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001
COPYRIGHT
       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  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 .

IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                          FNMATCH(3P)