osf1 man page for fnmatch

fnmatch(3)						     Library Functions Manual							fnmatch(3)

NAME
       fnmatch - Matches filename patterns

LIBRARY
       Standard C Library (libc.so, libc.a)

SYNOPSIS
       #include <fnmatch.h>

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

STANDARDS
       Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

       fnmatch():  XPG4, XPG4-UNIX

       Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.

PARAMETERS
       Contains  the  pattern  to which the string parameter is to be compared.  Contains the string to be compared against the pattern parameter.
       Contains a bit flag specifying the configurable attributes of the comparison to be performed by the fnmatch function.

       The flags parameter modifies the interpretation of the pattern and string parameters. It is the bitwise inclusive OR (|)  of  0	(zero)	or
       more  of  the  following  flags,  which are defined in the fnmatch.h file.  Slash in the string parameter only matches slash in the pattern
       parameter.  Leading period in the string parameter must be exactly matched by period in the pattern parameter.  Unless FNM_NOESCAPE is set,
       preceding  a  character	in  pattern  with  a   (backslash character) causes fnmatch() to match that character in string.  For example, \
       matches a backslash in string.  If FNM_NOESCAPE is set,  (backslash) is interpreted as an ordinary character.

       If the FNM_PATHNAME flag is set in the flags parameter, a / (slash) in the string parameter is explicitly matched by a  /  in  the  pattern
       parameter.   It	is  not  matched by either the * (asterisk) or ?  (question-mark) special characters, nor by a bracket expression.  If the
       FNM_PATHNAME flag is not set, the / is treated as an ordinary character.

       If FNM_PERIOD is set in the flags parameter, then a leading period in the string parameter only matches a period in the pattern	parameter;
       it  is  not  matched  by either the asterisk or question-mark special characters, nor by a bracket expression. A period is determined to be
       leading according to the setting of the FNM_PATHNAME flag, according to the following rules: If the FNM_PATHNAME flag is set, a	period	is
       leading	only  if  it is the first character in the string parameter or if it immediately follows a slash.  If the FNM_PATHNAME flag is not
       set,  a period is leading only if it is the first character of the string parameter.

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

       A  (backslash character) quotes the next character, unless FNM_NOESCAPE is set.  If FNM_NOESCAPE is  set,    (backslash)  is  treated	as
       itself.

DESCRIPTION
       The fnmatch() function checks the string specified by the string parameter to see if it matches the pattern specified by the pattern param-
       eter.  This routine follows the match criteria of the glob() function.

       The fnmatch function is useful when a program needs to perform pattern matching, such as when a directory is to be searched for a  particu-
       lar  string (as is the case with the find command).  A program like the pax command can also use the fnmatch() function to perform its pat-
       tern matching operations.

RETURN VALUES
       If the value in the string parameter matches the pattern specified by the pattern parameter, then the fnmatch() function returns 0  (zero).
       If there is no match, the fnmatch() function returns FNM_NOMATCH, which is defined in the fnmatch.h file. If an error occurs, the fnmatch()
       function returns a nonzero value.

RELATED INFORMATION
       Functions: glob(3), globfree(3), regcomp(3)

       Standards: standards(5) delim off

																	fnmatch(3)