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Wildcard string compare (globbing)

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4.90/5 (82 votes)
15 Feb 2005 1.2M   96   144
Matches a string against a wildcard string such as "*.*" or "bl?h.*" etc. This is good for file globbing or to match hostmasks.

Usage:

This is a fast, lightweight, and simple pattern matching function.

if (wildcmp("bl?h.*", "blah.jpg")) {
  //we have a match!
} else {
  //no match =(
}

Function:

int wildcmp(const char *wild, const char *string) {
  // Written by Jack Handy - <A href="mailto:jakkhandy@hotmail.com">jakkhandy@hotmail.com</A>
  const char *cp = NULL, *mp = NULL;

  while ((*string) && (*wild != '*')) {
    if ((*wild != *string) && (*wild != '?')) {
      return 0;
    }
    wild++;
    string++;
  }

  while (*string) {
    if (*wild == '*') {
      if (!*++wild) {
        return 1;
      }
      mp = wild;
      cp = string+1;
    } else if ((*wild == *string) || (*wild == '?')) {
      wild++;
      string++;
    } else {
      wild = mp;
      string = cp++;
    }
  }

  while (*wild == '*') {
    wild++;
  }
  return !*wild;
}

License

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Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralWildcard string compare in C# Pin
Sần Hải Quang10-Nov-08 22:15
Sần Hải Quang10-Nov-08 22:15 
GeneralRe: Wildcard string compare in C# Pin
Sần Hải Quang3-Aug-09 22:22
Sần Hải Quang3-Aug-09 22:22 
GeneralC# Direct Port Pin
hempels23-Sep-08 15:10
hempels23-Sep-08 15:10 
General...and yet another C# port [modified] Pin
DVF27-Aug-10 16:59
DVF27-Aug-10 16:59 
GeneralRe: ...and yet another C# port Pin
Vladimir Svyatski21-Sep-10 11:22
professionalVladimir Svyatski21-Sep-10 11:22 
GeneralUsing in Artistic Style Pin
jimp023-Apr-08 4:43
jimp023-Apr-08 4:43 
GeneralGeez... Pin
larryfr5-Mar-08 9:39
larryfr5-Mar-08 9:39 
QuestionConvert to a replace? Pin
williaps20-Mar-07 8:31
williaps20-Mar-07 8:31 
GeneralC# RexExp version Pin
spinsane4-Nov-06 6:30
spinsane4-Nov-06 6:30 
GeneralKudos Pin
quantumred14-Oct-06 4:37
quantumred14-Oct-06 4:37 
GeneralRe: Kudos Pin
milkplus24-Feb-10 11:19
milkplus24-Feb-10 11:19 
Generalwildcmp(&quot;*&amp;lt;*&amp;gt;&quot;, &quot;&amp;lt;field1&amp;gt;&amp;lt;field2&amp;gt;&quot;) not working [modified] Pin
Daniel B.6-Sep-06 13:14
Daniel B.6-Sep-06 13:14 
GeneralRe: wildcmp(&quot;*&amp;lt;*&amp;gt;&quot;, &quot;&amp;lt;field1&amp;gt;&amp;lt;field2&amp;gt;&quot;) not working Pin
radboudp16-Feb-07 0:35
radboudp16-Feb-07 0:35 
Generalreturn value type Pin
wdx048-Jan-06 15:49
wdx048-Jan-06 15:49 
General*? case match Pin
talimu3-Nov-05 23:42
talimu3-Nov-05 23:42 
GeneralRe: *? case match Pin
kuhnm15-Sep-06 2:18
kuhnm15-Sep-06 2:18 
GeneralRe: *? case match Pin
kuhnm18-Sep-06 4:48
kuhnm18-Sep-06 4:48 
GeneralGets my 5 Pin
Franc Morales18-Oct-05 17:05
Franc Morales18-Oct-05 17:05 
Generalmp and cp Pin
Member 102826915-Mar-05 11:59
Member 102826915-Mar-05 11:59 
GeneralRe: mp and cp Pin
radboudp16-Feb-07 1:14
radboudp16-Feb-07 1:14 
In case you are matching something like the following:

"*.abc" to "ab.de.abc"

In the second loop it looks for the first character after the asterisk that is the same in the string. At first it matches "*" against "ab". mp = ".abc" during this. Now wild = ".abc" and string = ".de.abc". Obvious no match. On the next loop the first characters do match (both '.') and wild becomes "abc" and string "de.abc". The next loop there is no match and it falls to the else. Here it resets wild to the last mp (mask pattern??) and string to the last cp (character pattern) WITHOUT THE FIRST CHARACTER. (It actually advances cp one position.)

Why does it do this. After matching the * against part of the string and encountering a possible poisiton where to match the remainder of the pattern, it continued comparing characters from both to each other. This fialed. Since right before the position of mp there was a *, it is still allowed to add characters to the part that is matched against that. Basically, it goes back to that position but decides that the character that occurs in both strings is not the next character in the pattern but part of the '*' wildcard.

In the end it has matched '*' with 'ab.de'.
GeneralOK, but ... Pin
Sam Levy16-Feb-05 4:48
Sam Levy16-Feb-05 4:48 
QuestionWhy make 3 loop ? Pin
DarkYoda M2-Feb-05 22:22
DarkYoda M2-Feb-05 22:22 
AnswerRe: Why make 3 loop ? Pin
Jack Handy13-Feb-05 10:02
Jack Handy13-Feb-05 10:02 
GeneralC# version Pin
Sancy26-Oct-04 6:23
Sancy26-Oct-04 6:23 
GeneralRe: C# version Pin
Psyk6621-Dec-04 3:39
Psyk6621-Dec-04 3:39 

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