NAME
glob - Return names of files that match patterns
SYNOPSIS
glob ?switches? pattern ?pattern ...?
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DESCRIPTION
This command performs file name ``globbing'' in a fashion
similar to the csh shell. It returns a list of the files
whose names match any of the pattern arguments.
If the initial arguments to glob start with - then they
are treated as switches. The following switches are cur
rently supported: |
-directory |
directory ||
Search for files which match the given patterns |
starting in the given directory. This allows |
searching of directories whose name contains glob- |
sensitive characters without the need to quote such |
characters explicitly. This option may not be used |
in conjunction with -path. |
-join ||
The remaining pattern arguments are treated as a |
single pattern obtained by joining the arguments |
with directory separators.
-nocomplain
Allows an empty list to be returned without error;
without this switch an error is returned if the
result list would be empty. |
-path |
pathPrefix ||
Search for files with the given pathPrefix where |
the rest of the name matches the given patterns. |
This allows searching for files with names similar |
to a given file even when the names contain glob- |
sensitive characters. This option may not be used |
in conjunction with -directory. |
-types |
typeList ||
Only list files or directories which match type |
List, where the items in the list have two forms. |
The first form is like the -type option of the Unix |
find command: b (block special file), c (character |
special file), d (directory), f (plain file), l |
where multiple types may be specified in the list. |
Glob will return all files which match at least one |
of the types given. |
The second form specifies types where all the types |
given must match. These are r, w, x as file per |
missions, and readonly, hidden as special permis |
sion cases. On the Macintosh, MacOS types and cre |
ators are also supported, where any item which is |
four characters long is assumed to be a MacOS type |
(e.g. TEXT). Items which are of the form {macin |
tosh type XXXX} or {macintosh creator XXXX} will |
match types or creators respectively. Unrecognised |
types, or specifications of multiple MacOS |
types/creators will signal an error. |
The two forms may be mixed, so -types {d f r w} |
will find all regular files OR directories that |
have both read AND write permissions. The follow |
ing are equivalent: |
glob -type d * |
glob */ |
except that the first case doesn't return the |
trailing ``/'' and is more platform independent. |
-- Marks the end of switches. The argument following
this one will be treated as a pattern even if it
starts with a -.
The pattern arguments may contain any of the following
special characters:
? Matches any single character.
* Matches any sequence of zero or more characters.
[chars] Matches any single character in chars. If chars
contains a sequence of the form a-b then any
character between a and b (inclusive) will
match.
\x Matches the character x.
{a,b,...} Matches any of the strings a, b, etc.
As with csh, a ``.'' at the beginning of a file's name or
just after a ``/'' must be matched explicitly or with a {}
construct. In addition, all ``/'' characters must be
matched explicitly.
If the first character in a pattern is ``~'' then it
refers to the home directory for the user whose name fol
lows the ``~''. If the ``~'' is followed immediately by
used.
The glob command differs from csh globbing in two ways.
First, it does not sort its result list (use the lsort
command if you want the list sorted). Second, glob only
returns the names of files that actually exist; in csh no
check for existence is made unless a pattern contains a ?,
*, or [] construct.
PORTABILITY ISSUES
Unlike other Tcl commands that will accept both network
and native style names (see the filename manual entry for
details on how native and network names are specified),
the glob command only accepts native names.
Windows
For Windows UNC names, the servername and sharename
components of the path may not contain ?, *, or []
constructs. On Windows NT, if pattern is of the
form ``~username@domain'' it refers to the home
directory of the user whose account information
resides on the specified NT domain server. Other
wise, user account information is obtained from the
local computer. On Windows 95 and 98, glob accepts
patterns like ``.../'' and ``..../'' for succes
sively higher up parent directories.
Macintosh
When using the options, -dir, -join or -path, glob
assumes the directory separator for the entire pat
tern is the standard ``:''. When not using these
options, glob examines each pattern argument and
uses ``/'' unless the pattern contains a ``:''.
SEE ALSO
file(n)
KEYWORDS
exist, file, glob, pattern
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