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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 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.1-2008, Section 2.13.1, Patterns Matching
       a Single Character and Section 2.13.2, Patterns Matching Multiple Char-
       acters.   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
       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.1-2008, 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  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-
       name strings, rather than pathnames, since it gives no special signifi-
       cance 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 POSIX.1-2008. 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(), Section 2.6, Word Expansions
       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2008, <fnmatch.h>
COPYRIGHT
       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri-
       cal  and  Electronics  Engineers,  Inc  and  The  Open Group.  (This is
       POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum  1  applied.)  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.unix.org/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.ker-
       nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
IEEE/The Open Group                  2013                          FNMATCH(3P)