File.fnmatch( pattern, path, [flags] ) → (true or false)
File.fnmatch?( pattern, path, [flags] ) → (true or false)

Returns true if path matches against pattern The pattern is not a regular expression; instead it follows rules similar to shell filename globbing. It may contain the following metacharacters:

flags is a bitwise OR of the FNM_xxx parameters. The same glob pattern and flags are used by Dir::glob.

File.fnmatch('cat',       'cat')        #=> true  : match entire string
File.fnmatch('cat',       'category')   #=> false : only match partial string
File.fnmatch('c{at,ub}s', 'cats')       #=> false : { } isn't supported

File.fnmatch('c?t',     'cat')          #=> true  : '?' match only 1 character
File.fnmatch('c??t',    'cat')          #=> false : ditto
File.fnmatch('c*',      'cats')         #=> true  : '*' match 0 or more characters
File.fnmatch('c*t',     'c/a/b/t')      #=> true  : ditto
File.fnmatch('ca[a-z]', 'cat')          #=> true  : inclusive bracket expression
File.fnmatch('ca[^t]',  'cat')          #=> false : exclusive bracket expression ('^' or '!')

File.fnmatch('cat', 'CAT')                     #=> false : case sensitive
File.fnmatch('cat', 'CAT', File::FNM_CASEFOLD) #=> true  : case insensitive

File.fnmatch('?',   '/', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false : wildcard doesn't match '/' on FNM_PATHNAME
File.fnmatch('*',   '/', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false : ditto
File.fnmatch('[/]', '/', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false : ditto

File.fnmatch('\?',   '?')                       #=> true  : escaped wildcard becomes ordinary
File.fnmatch('\a',   'a')                       #=> true  : escaped ordinary remains ordinary
File.fnmatch('\a',   '\a', File::FNM_NOESCAPE)  #=> true  : FNM_NOESACPE makes '\' ordinary
File.fnmatch('[\?]', '?')                       #=> true  : can escape inside bracket expression

File.fnmatch('*',   '.profile')                      #=> false : wildcard doesn't match leading
File.fnmatch('*',   '.profile', File::FNM_DOTMATCH)  #=> true    period by default.
File.fnmatch('.*',  '.profile')                      #=> true

rbfiles = '**' '/' '*.rb' # you don't have to do like this. just write in single string.
File.fnmatch(rbfiles, 'main.rb')                    #=> false
File.fnmatch(rbfiles, './main.rb')                  #=> false
File.fnmatch(rbfiles, 'lib/song.rb')                #=> true
File.fnmatch('**.rb', 'main.rb')                    #=> true
File.fnmatch('**.rb', './main.rb')                  #=> false
File.fnmatch('**.rb', 'lib/song.rb')                #=> true
File.fnmatch('*',           'dave/.profile')                      #=> true

pattern = '*' '/' '*'
File.fnmatch(pattern, 'dave/.profile', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false
File.fnmatch(pattern, 'dave/.profile', File::FNM_PATHNAME | File::FNM_DOTMATCH) #=> true

pattern = '**' '/' 'foo'
File.fnmatch(pattern, 'a/b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)     #=> true
File.fnmatch(pattern, '/a/b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)    #=> true
File.fnmatch(pattern, 'c:/a/b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> true
File.fnmatch(pattern, 'a/.b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)    #=> false
File.fnmatch(pattern, 'a/.b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME | File::FNM_DOTMATCH) #=> true

Source Code

/*
*  call-seq:
*     File.fnmatch( pattern, path, [flags] ) => (true or false)
*     File.fnmatch?( pattern, path, [flags] ) => (true or false)
*
*  Returns true if <i>path</i> matches against <i>pattern</i> The
*  pattern is not a regular expression; instead it follows rules
*  similar to shell filename globbing. It may contain the following
*  metacharacters:
*
*  <code>*</code>::        Matches any file. Can be restricted by
*                          other values in the glob. <code>*</code>
*                          will match all files; <code>c*</code> will
*                          match all files beginning with
*                          <code>c</code>; <code>*c</code> will match
*                          all files ending with <code>c</code>; and
*                          <code>*c*</code> will match all files that
*                          have <code>c</code> in them (including at
*                          the beginning or end). Equivalent to
*                          <code>/ .* /x</code> in regexp.
*  <code>**</code>::       Matches directories recursively or files
*                          expansively.
*  <code>?</code>::        Matches any one character. Equivalent to
*                          <code>/.{1}/</code> in regexp.
*  <code>[set]</code>::    Matches any one character in +set+.
*                          Behaves exactly like character sets in
*                          Regexp, including set negation
*                          (<code>[^a-z]</code>).
*  <code>\</code>::        Escapes the next metacharacter.
*
*  <i>flags</i> is a bitwise OR of the <code>FNM_xxx</code>
*  parameters. The same glob pattern and flags are used by
*  <code>Dir::glob</code>.
*
*     File.fnmatch('cat',       'cat')        #=> true  : match entire string
*     File.fnmatch('cat',       'category')   #=> false : only match partial string
*     File.fnmatch('c{at,ub}s', 'cats')       #=> false : { } isn't supported
*
*     File.fnmatch('c?t',     'cat')          #=> true  : '?' match only 1 character
*     File.fnmatch('c??t',    'cat')          #=> false : ditto
*     File.fnmatch('c*',      'cats')         #=> true  : '*' match 0 or more characters
*     File.fnmatch('c*t',     'c/a/b/t')      #=> true  : ditto
*     File.fnmatch('ca[a-z]', 'cat')          #=> true  : inclusive bracket expression
*     File.fnmatch('ca[^t]',  'cat')          #=> false : exclusive bracket expression ('^' or '!')
*
*     File.fnmatch('cat', 'CAT')                     #=> false : case sensitive
*     File.fnmatch('cat', 'CAT', File::FNM_CASEFOLD) #=> true  : case insensitive
*
*     File.fnmatch('?',   '/', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false : wildcard doesn't match '/' on FNM_PATHNAME
*     File.fnmatch('*',   '/', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false : ditto
*     File.fnmatch('[/]', '/', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false : ditto
*
*     File.fnmatch('\?',   '?')                       #=> true  : escaped wildcard becomes ordinary
*     File.fnmatch('\a',   'a')                       #=> true  : escaped ordinary remains ordinary
*     File.fnmatch('\a',   '\a', File::FNM_NOESCAPE)  #=> true  : FNM_NOESACPE makes '\' ordinary
*     File.fnmatch('[\?]', '?')                       #=> true  : can escape inside bracket expression
*
*     File.fnmatch('*',   '.profile')                      #=> false : wildcard doesn't match leading
*     File.fnmatch('*',   '.profile', File::FNM_DOTMATCH)  #=> true    period by default.
*     File.fnmatch('.*',  '.profile')                      #=> true
*
*     rbfiles = '**' '/' '*.rb' # you don't have to do like this. just write in single string.
*     File.fnmatch(rbfiles, 'main.rb')                    #=> false
*     File.fnmatch(rbfiles, './main.rb')                  #=> false
*     File.fnmatch(rbfiles, 'lib/song.rb')                #=> true
*     File.fnmatch('**.rb', 'main.rb')                    #=> true
*     File.fnmatch('**.rb', './main.rb')                  #=> false
*     File.fnmatch('**.rb', 'lib/song.rb')                #=> true
*     File.fnmatch('*',           'dave/.profile')                      #=> true
*
*     pattern = '*' '/' '*'
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, 'dave/.profile', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> false
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, 'dave/.profile', File::FNM_PATHNAME | File::FNM_DOTMATCH) #=> true
*
*     pattern = '**' '/' 'foo'
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, 'a/b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)     #=> true
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, '/a/b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)    #=> true
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, 'c:/a/b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)  #=> true
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, 'a/.b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME)    #=> false
*     File.fnmatch(pattern, 'a/.b/c/foo', File::FNM_PATHNAME | File::FNM_DOTMATCH) #=> true
*/
static VALUE
file_s_fnmatch(argc, argv, obj)
   int argc;
   VALUE *argv;
   VALUE obj;
{
   VALUE pattern, path;
   VALUE rflags;
   int flags;

   if (rb_scan_args(argc, argv, "21", &pattern, &path, &rflags) == 3)
       flags = NUM2INT(rflags);
   else
       flags = 0;

   StringValue(pattern);
   StringValue(path);

   if (fnmatch(RSTRING(pattern)->ptr, RSTRING(path)->ptr, flags) == 0)
       return Qtrue;

   return Qfalse;
}