NAME

       shellexp - match string against a cruft filter pattern

SYNOPSIS

       extern int shellexp(const char *string, const char *pattern);

DESCRIPTION

       The  shellexp()  function  is  similar  to  fnmatch(3), but works with cruft patterns instead of standard
       glob(7) patterns.  The function returns a true value if string matches the cruft pattern pattern,  and  a
       false value (0) otherwise. Returns -1 in case of pattern syntax error.

       Cruft  patterns  are  similar  to  glob(7)  patterns, but are not fully compatible. The following special
       characters are supported:

       ? (a question mark)
              matches exactly one character of string other than a slash.

       *      matches zero or more characters of string other than a slash.

       /** or /**/
              matches zero or more path components in string.  Please  note  that  you  can  only  use  **  when
              directly following a slash, and furthermore, only when either directly preceding a slash or at the
              very  end  of  pattern.   A ** followed by anything other than a slash makes pattern invalid. A **
              following anything else than a slash reduces it to having the same effect as *.

       [character-class]
              Matches any character  between  the  brackets  exactly  once.  Named  character  classes  are  NOT
              supported.  If  the first character of the class is !  or ^, then the meaning is inverted (matches
              any character NOT listed between the brackets).  If you want to specify a literal closing  bracket
              in  the class, then specify it as the first (or second, if you want to negate) character after the
              opening bracket.  Also, simple ASCII-order ranges  are  supported  using  a  dash  character  (see
              examples section).

       Any other character matches itself.

EXAMPLES

       /a/b*/*c
              matches /a/b/xyz.c, as well as /a/bcd/.c, but not /a/b/c/d.c.

       /a/**/*.c
              matches all of the following: /a/a.c, /a/b/a.c, /a/b/c/a.c and /a/b/c/d/a.c.

       /a/[0-9][^0-9]*
              matches /a/1abc, but not /a/12bc.

BUGS

       Uses  constant-length  1000 byte buffers to hold filenames. Also uses recursive function calls, which are
       not very efficient. Does not validate the pattern before matching,  so  any  pattern  errors  (unbalanced
       brackets or misplaced **) are only reported when and if the matching algorithm reaches them.

SEE ALSO

       fnmatch(3), glob(3), cruft(8) and dash-search(1).

AUTHOR

       This  manual  page  was  written by Marcin Owsiany <porridge@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system
       (but may be used by others).

                                                October 17, 2007                                     SHELLEXP(3)