File::Glob(3) Perl Programmers Reference Guide File::Glob(3)NAMEFile::Glob - Perl extension for BSD glob routine
SYNOPSIS
use File::Glob ':glob';
@list = bsd_glob('*.[ch]');
$homedir = bsd_glob('~gnat', GLOB_TILDE | GLOB_ERR);
if (GLOB_ERROR) {
# an error occurred reading $homedir
}
## override the core glob (CORE::glob() does this automatically
## by default anyway, since v5.6.0)
use File::Glob ':globally';
my @sources = <*.{c,h,y}>
## override the core glob, forcing case sensitivity
use File::Glob qw(:globally :case);
my @sources = <*.{c,h,y}>
## override the core glob forcing case insensitivity
use File::Glob qw(:globally :nocase);
my @sources = <*.{c,h,y}>
DESCRIPTIONFile::Glob::bsd_glob() implements the FreeBSD glob(3) rou
tine, which is a superset of the POSIX glob() (described
in IEEE Std 1003.2 "POSIX.2"). bsd_glob() takes a manda
tory "pattern" argument, and an optional "flags" argument,
and returns a list of filenames matching the pattern, with
interpretation of the pattern modified by the "flags"
variable.
Since v5.6.0, Perl's CORE:\fIs0:glob() is implemented in
terms of bsd_glob(). Note that they don't share the same
prototype--CORE::glob() only accepts a single argument.
Due to historical reasons, CORE:\fIs0:glob() will also
split its argument on whitespace, treating it as multiple
patterns, whereas bsd_glob() considers them as one pat
tern.
The POSIX defined flags for bsd_glob() are:
""GLOB_ERR""
Force bsd_glob() to return an error when it encounters
a directory it cannot open or read. Ordinarily
bsd_glob() continues to find matches.
""GLOB_MARK""
Each pathname that is a directory that matches the
pattern has a slash appended.
""GLOB_NOCASE""
By default, file names are assumed to be case sensi
tive; this flag makes bsd_glob() treat case differ
ences as not significant.
""GLOB_NOCHECK""
If the pattern does not match any pathname, then
bsd_glob() returns a list consisting of only the pat
tern. If "GLOB_QUOTE" is set, its effect is present
in the pattern returned.
""GLOB_NOSORT""
By default, the pathnames are sorted in ascending
ASCII order; this flag prevents that sorting (speeding
up bsd_glob()).
The FreeBSD extensions to the POSIX standard are the fol
lowing flags:
""GLOB_BRACE""
Pre-process the string to expand "{pat,pat,...}"
strings like csh(1). The pattern '{}' is left unex
panded for historical reasons (and csh(1) does the
same thing to ease typing of find(1) patterns).
""GLOB_NOMAGIC""
Same as "GLOB_NOCHECK" but it only returns the pattern
if it does not contain any of the special characters
"*", "?" or "[". "NOMAGIC" is provided to simplify
implementing the historic csh(1) globbing behaviour
and should probably not be used anywhere else.
""GLOB_QUOTE""
Use the backslash ('\') character for quoting: every
occurrence of a backslash followed by a character in
the pattern is replaced by that character, avoiding
any special interpretation of the character. (But see
below for exceptions on DOSISH systems).
""GLOB_TILDE""
Expand patterns that start with '~' to user name home
directories.
""GLOB_CSH""
For convenience, "GLOB_CSH" is a synonym for
"GLOB_BRACE | GLOB_NOMAGIC | GLOB_QUOTE | GLOB_TILDE |
GLOB_ALPHASORT".
The POSIX provided "GLOB_APPEND", "GLOB_DOOFFS", and the
FreeBSD extensions "GLOB_ALTDIRFUNC", and "GLOB_MAGCHAR"
flags have not been implemented in the Perl version
because they involve more complex interaction with the
underlying C structures.
The following flag has been added in the Perl implementa
tion for compatibility with common flavors of csh:
""GLOB_ALPHASORT""
If "GLOB_NOSORT" is not in effect, sort filenames is
alphabetical order (case does not matter) rather than
in ASCII order.
DIAGNOSTICSbsd_glob() returns a list of matching paths, possibly zero
length. If an error occurred, &File::Glob::GLOB_ERROR
will be non-zero and "$!" will be set.
&File::Glob::GLOB_ERROR is guaranteed to be zero if no
error occurred, or one of the following values otherwise:
""GLOB_NOSPACE""
An attempt to allocate memory failed.
""GLOB_ABEND""
The glob was stopped because an error was encountered.
In the case where bsd_glob() has found some matching
paths, but is interrupted by an error, it will return a
list of filenames and set &File::Glob::ERROR.
Note that bsd_glob() deviates from POSIX and FreeBSD
glob(3) behaviour by not considering "ENOENT" and "ENOT
DIR" as errors - bsd_glob() will continue processing
despite those errors, unless the "GLOB_ERR" flag is set.
Be aware that all filenames returned from File::Glob are
tainted.
NOTES
If you want to use multiple patterns, e.g. "bsd_glob
"a* b*"", you should probably throw them in a set as
in "bsd_glob "{a*,b*}"". This is because the argument
to bsd_glob() isn't subjected to parsing by the C
shell. Remember that you can use a backslash to
escape things.
On DOSISH systems, backslash is a valid directory sep
arator character. In this case, use of backslash as a
quoting character (via GLOB_QUOTE) interferes with the
use of backslash as a directory separator. The best
(simplest, most portable) solution is to use forward
slashes for directory separators, and backslashes for
quoting. However, this does not match "normal prac
tice" on these systems. As a concession to user expec
tation, therefore, backslashes (under GLOB_QUOTE) only
quote the glob metacharacters '[', ']', '{', '}', '-',
'~', and backslash itself. All other backslashes are
passed through unchanged.
Win32 users should use the real slash. If you really
want to use backslashes, consider using Sarathy's
File::DosGlob, which comes with the standard Perl dis
tribution.
Mac OS (Classic) users should note a few differences.
Since Mac OS is not Unix, when the glob code encoun
ters a tilde glob (e.g. ~user/foo) and the
"GLOB_TILDE" flag is used, it simply returns that pat
tern without doing any expansion.
Glob on Mac OS is case-insensitive by default (if you
don't use any flags). If you specify any flags at all
and still want glob to be case-insensitive, you must
include "GLOB_NOCASE" in the flags.
The path separator is ':' (aka colon), not '/' (aka
slash). Mac OS users should be careful about specify
ing relative pathnames. While a full path always
begins with a volume name, a relative pathname should
always begin with a ':'. If specifying a volume name
only, a trailing ':' is required.
AUTHOR
The Perl interface was written by Nathan Torkington
<gnat@frii.com>, and is released under the artistic
license. Further modifications were made by Greg Bacon
<gbacon@cs.uah.edu>, Gurusamy Sarathy <gsar@actives
tate.com>, and Thomas Wegner <wegner_thomas@yahoo.com>.
The C glob code has the following copyright:
Copyright (c) 1989, 1993 The Regents of the University of California.
All rights reserved.
This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
Guido van Rossum.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGE.
2001-03-03 perl v5.6.1 File::Glob(3)
