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Wildcard string compare (globbing)

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15 Feb 2005 1.1M   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

 
GeneralRe: wildcmp( Pin
Jack Handy29-May-01 10:01
Jack Handy29-May-01 10:01 
GeneralNot DOS compatible Pin
Miroslav Rajcic2-May-01 3:56
Miroslav Rajcic2-May-01 3:56 
GeneralRe: Not DOS compatible Pin
Jack Handy2-May-01 12:03
Jack Handy2-May-01 12:03 
GeneralRe: Not DOS compatible Pin
Miroslav Rajcic6-May-01 23:04
Miroslav Rajcic6-May-01 23:04 
GeneralDOS compatible workaround Pin
5-Jul-01 1:47
suss5-Jul-01 1:47 
GeneralRe: Not DOS compatible Pin
W2k27-Dec-02 13:26
W2k27-Dec-02 13:26 
QuestionWhy, oh why only? Pin
2-May-01 2:17
suss2-May-01 2:17 
AnswerRe: Why, oh why only? Pin
Simon Capewell2-May-01 2:39
Simon Capewell2-May-01 2:39 
I challenge you to provide a regex library in 20 lines of code Smile | :)
You might only want to provide basic wildcard support, particularly for tools used by people used to DOS wildcards. Regular expressions are great, but sometimes you don't want to have to work out the format of your search string!
GeneralRe: Why, oh why only? Pin
5-Jul-01 10:27
suss5-Jul-01 10:27 
AnswerRe: Why, oh why only? Pin
Paul McGuire4-Dec-01 4:18
Paul McGuire4-Dec-01 4:18 

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