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Wildcard string compare (globbing)

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4.90/5 (82 votes)
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: too complicated Pin
22-Mar-02 0:34
suss22-Mar-02 0:34 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Jack Handy22-Mar-02 15:23
Jack Handy22-Mar-02 15:23 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
22-Mar-02 21:40
suss22-Mar-02 21:40 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Jack Handy22-Mar-02 22:26
Jack Handy22-Mar-02 22:26 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
alex.barylski19-Apr-03 9:25
alex.barylski19-Apr-03 9:25 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
douglashogan25-Jan-04 12:34
douglashogan25-Jan-04 12:34 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Jack Handy25-Jan-04 12:40
Jack Handy25-Jan-04 12:40 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
douglashogan25-Jan-04 12:50
douglashogan25-Jan-04 12:50 
It is just clearer to use C++ gurus style. I take a lot of code from code project and am very grateful for it. With most of the classes i have to make some modification or other as I am writing a commercial application which often requires tweaks. I need wildcard matching in a number of places but maybe a little more than * and ?. Therefore, the first thing i considered was how i could add extra tokens. It appears at a glance that c++ gurus code is easier to grasp.

I understand pointer arithmethic just fine, and i believe the claim that your code is twice as fast. It is more important for me to have bug free code as wildcard comparison functionality is carried out on a very small scale in my application. Any bugs are headaches. I am firmly a c/c++ devotee and hate all the luggage that comes with .NET, VB, etc. But we can have a small tradeoff for readability in the general case. Why give those guys ammunition for their 'C/C++ code is unreadable and only hacks use it' argument?

No offense but i will use the gurus code because i have my reasons. It is not fair to blindly knock it though.

anyway, it is better you submitted this article than no article.

cheers Blush | :O


GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
22-Mar-02 15:29
suss22-Mar-02 15:29 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Simon Capewell22-May-02 2:48
Simon Capewell22-May-02 2:48 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Targys8-Jan-03 1:57
Targys8-Jan-03 1:57 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
The C++ Guru24-Feb-03 10:43
sussThe C++ Guru24-Feb-03 10:43 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Jack Handy24-Feb-03 16:52
Jack Handy24-Feb-03 16:52 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
hector santos1-Mar-03 1:49
hector santos1-Mar-03 1:49 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Kent C. Dorner2-Mar-03 5:26
sussKent C. Dorner2-Mar-03 5:26 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
hector santos2-Mar-03 10:05
hector santos2-Mar-03 10:05 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Jack Handy2-Jun-03 13:56
Jack Handy2-Jun-03 13:56 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Anonymous2-Jun-03 14:48
Anonymous2-Jun-03 14:48 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
Anonymous4-Dec-03 18:29
Anonymous4-Dec-03 18:29 
GeneralRe: too complicated Pin
olegxxx4-Mar-05 19:24
olegxxx4-Mar-05 19:24 
GeneralSweet! Pin
EpicBoy1-Feb-02 16:08
EpicBoy1-Feb-02 16:08 
GeneralRe: Sweet! Pin
Michael Dunn1-Feb-02 17:10
sitebuilderMichael Dunn1-Feb-02 17:10 
GeneralRe: Sweet! Pin
13-May-02 0:29
suss13-May-02 0:29 
GeneralI found this very useful. Pin
Todd Smith4-Jan-02 14:40
Todd Smith4-Jan-02 14:40 
GeneralTest Cases Pin
Paul McGuire4-Dec-01 12:00
Paul McGuire4-Dec-01 12:00 

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