NAME¶

File::Glob - Perl extension for BSD glob routine

SYNOPSIS¶

  use File::Glob ':bsd_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}>;
  ## glob on all files in home directory
  use File::Glob ':globally';
  my @sources = <~gnat/*>;

DESCRIPTION¶

The glob angle-bracket operator "<>" is a pathname generator that implements the rules for file name pattern matching used by Unix-like shells such as the Bourne shell or C shell.

File::Glob::bsd_glob() implements the FreeBSD glob(3) routine, which is a superset of the POSIX glob() (described in IEEE Std 1003.2 "POSIX.2"). bsd_glob() takes a mandatory "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::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::glob() will also split its argument on whitespace, treating it as multiple patterns, whereas bsd_glob() considers them as one pattern. But see ":bsd_glob" under "EXPORTS", below.

  \       Quote the next metacharacter
  []      Character class
  {}      Multiple pattern
  *       Match any string of characters
  ?       Match any single character
  ~       User name home directory

    use File::Glob ':glob';
    while (my $file = <* copy.txt>) {
        ...
    }

DIAGNOSTICS¶

bsd_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 "ENOTDIR" 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 separator 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 practice" on these systems. As a concession to user expectation, 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 distribution.

SEE ALSO¶

"glob" in perlfunc, glob(3)

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@activestate.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.