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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

 
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 
public static bool WildcardMatch(string strCompare, string strWild, bool bIgnoreCase)
{
    if (bIgnoreCase)
    {
        strWild = strWild.ToUpper();
        strCompare = strCompare.ToUpper();
    }

    // Lengths of strings
    int iWildLen = strWild.Length;
    int iCompareLen = strCompare.Length;

    // Used to save position when '*' found in strWild
    // Initialized to invalid values
    int iWildMatched = iWildLen;
    int iCompareBase = iCompareLen;

    int iWild = 0;
    int iCompare = 0;

    // Match until first wildcard '*'
    while (iCompare < iCompareLen && (iWild >= iWildLen || strWild[iWild] != '*'))
    {
        if (iWild >= iWildLen || (strWild[iWild] != strCompare[iCompare] && strWild[iWild] != '?'))
            return false;

        iWild++;
        iCompare++;
    }

    // Process wildcard
    while (iCompare < iCompareLen)
    {
        if (iWild < iWildLen)
        {
            if (strWild[iWild] == '*')
            {
                iWild++;

                if (iWild == iWildLen)
                    return true;

                iWildMatched = iWild;
                iCompareBase = iCompare + 1;

                continue;
            }

            if (strWild[iWild] == strCompare[iCompare] || strWild[iWild] == '?')
            {
                iWild++;
                iCompare++;

                continue;
            }
        }

        iWild = iWildMatched;
        iCompare = iCompareBase++;
    }

    while (iWild < iWildLen && strWild[iWild] == '*')
        iWild++;

    if (iWild < iWildLen)
        return false;

    return true;
}


modified on Saturday, August 28, 2010 10:10 PM

GeneralRe: ...and yet another C# port Pin
Vladimir Svyatski21-Sep-10 11:22
professionalVladimir Svyatski21-Sep-10 11:22 

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