fnmatch(3C)

NAME

     fnmatch - match filename or path name

SYNOPSIS

     #include <fnmatch.h>

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

DESCRIPTION

     The fnmatch() function matches patterns as described on  the
     fnmatch(5)  manual  page.   It checks the string argument to
     see if it matches the pattern argument.

     The flags argument modifies the  interpretation  of  pattern
     and  string.  It is the bitwise inclusive OR of zero or more
     of the following flags defined in the header <fnmatch.h>.

     FNM_PATHNAME
           If set, a slash (/) character in string will be expli-
           citly  matched  by  a slash in pattern; it will not be
           matched by either the asterisk  (*)  or  question-mark
           (?)  special characters, nor by a bracket ([]) expres-
           sion.

           If not set, the slash character is treated as an ordi-
           nary character.

     FNM_NOESCAPE
           If not set, a backslash character (\) in pattern  fol-
           lowed  by  any  other character will match that second
           character in string. In particular, "\\" will match  a
           backslash in string.

           If set, a backslash character will be  treated  as  an
           ordinary character.

     FNM_PERIOD
           If set, a leading period in string will match a period
           in  pattern;  where the location of "leading" is indi-
           cated by the value of FNM_PATHNAME:

              o  If FNM_PATHNAME is set, a period is "leading" if
                 it  is  the  first  character in string or if it
                 immediately follows a slash.

              o  If FNM_PATHNAME is not set, a period  is  "lead-
                 ing"  only  if  it  is  the  first  character of
                 string.

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

RETURN VALUES

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

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(1)  utility
     is  an  example  of  this. It can also be used by the pax(1)
     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 func-
     tion is to match filenames, rather than path names, since it
     gives  no  special significance to the slash character. With
     the FNM_PATHNAME flag, fnmatch() does match path names,  but
     without  tilde  expansion,  parameter  expansion, or special
     treatment for period at the beginning of a filename.

     The fnmatch() function can be used safely  in  multithreaded
     applications,  as  long as setlocale(3C) is not being called
     to change the locale.

ATTRIBUTES

     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:

     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | MT-Level                    | MT-Safe with exceptions     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | CSI                         | Enabled                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|

SEE ALSO

     find(1),  pax(1),  glob(3C),   setlocale(3C),   wordexp(3C),
     attributes(5), fnmatch(5)