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Use wildcard Characters * and ? to Compare Strings

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26 Jul 2017CPOL 86.7K   13   10
How to use wildcard characters & and ? to compare strings

Method to compare Strings with wildcard characters:

The following wildcards can be used in patterns:

  • '?' - any single character
  • '*' - zero or more characters
C#
public Boolean MatchWildcardString(String pattern, String input)
{
    if (String.Compare(pattern, input) == 0)
    {
        return true;
    }
    else if(String.IsNullOrEmpty(input))
    {
        if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(pattern.Trim(new Char[1] { '*' })))
        {
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            return false;
        }
    }
    else if(pattern.Length == 0)
    {
        return false;
    }
    else if (pattern[0] == '?')
    {
        return MatchWildcardString(pattern.Substring(1), input.Substring(1));
    }
    else if (pattern[pattern.Length - 1] == '?')
    {
        return MatchWildcardString(pattern.Substring(0, pattern.Length - 1), 
                                   input.Substring(0, input.Length - 1));
    }
    else if (pattern[0] == '*')
    {
        if (MatchWildcardString(pattern.Substring(1), input))
        {
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            return MatchWildcardString(pattern, input.Substring(1));
        }
    }
    else if (pattern[pattern.Length - 1] == '*')
    {
        if (MatchWildcardString(pattern.Substring(0, pattern.Length - 1), input))
        {
            return true;
        }
        else
        {
            return MatchWildcardString(pattern, input.Substring(0, input.Length - 1));
        }
    }
    else if (pattern[0] == input[0])
    {
        return MatchWildcardString(pattern.Substring(1), input.Substring(1));
    }
    return false;
}

The above method can be tested in the following way:

MIDL
// Positive Tests
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*", ""));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("?", " "));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*", "a"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*?", "a"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("?*", "a"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*?*", "a"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*", "ab"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("**", "ab"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("***", "ab"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*b", "ab"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("a*", "ab"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("?", "a"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*?", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*??", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("??*", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("?*?", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("???", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("?*", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*abc", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*abc*", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*a*b*c*", "abc"));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*a*bc*", "aXXXbc"));

// Negative Tests
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*a", ""));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("a*", ""));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("?", ""));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*b*", "a"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("b*a", "ab"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("a?b", "ab"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("abc", "ab"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("ab", "cab"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("ab", "abc"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("ab", "AB"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("AB", "ab"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("cab", "ab"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("??", "a"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*?", ""));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("?*", ""));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("????", "abc"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("??*", "a"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*abc", "abX"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*abc*", "Xbc"));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*a*bc*", "ac"));
C#
//Performance Tests
String matchSubString = "ababac";
String inputABmC = (new String('A', 10000)) + 
(new String('B', 10000)) + matchSubString + (new String('C', 10000));
String inputABm = (new String('A', 10000)) + (new String('B', 10000)) + matchSubString;
String inputmBC = matchSubString + (new String('B', 10000)) + (new String('C', 10000));

Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString(matchSubString, inputABmC));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString(matchSubString + "*", inputABmC));
Assert.IsFalse(MatchWildcardString("*" + matchSubString, inputABmC));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*" + matchSubString + "*", inputABmC));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString("*" + matchSubString, inputABm));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString(matchSubString + "*", inputmBC));
Assert.IsTrue(MatchWildcardString(inputABmC, inputABmC));

I tested MatchWildcardString method according to Roman Shchekin suggestion with long input text 4k and I was able to reproduce error: "Stack overflow exception". This is because there is a memory limit in the .NET Framework in case of recurrence execution. If you need to use MatchWildcardString for longer text than 3k, please use the following implementation (which will give you the same result without error exception):

C#
private Boolean MatchWildcardString(String pattern, String input)
{
    String regexPattern = "^";

    foreach (Char c in pattern)
    {
        switch (c)
        {
            case '*':
                regexPattern += ".*";
                break;
            case '?':
                regexPattern += ".";
                break;
            default:
                regexPattern += "[" + c + "]";
                break;
        }
    }
    return new Regex(regexPattern + "$").IsMatch(input);
}

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


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Comments and Discussions

 
BugThat regex misses a case. Pin
zizzo812-Dec-21 22:28
zizzo812-Dec-21 22:28 
GeneralRe: That regex misses a case. Pin
PrzemekBenz3-Dec-21 5:17
PrzemekBenz3-Dec-21 5:17 
QuestionI broke it Pin
Roman Shchekin9-Oct-14 3:11
Roman Shchekin9-Oct-14 3:11 
AnswerRe: I broke it Pin
Ben Hanson8-Jul-16 9:36
Ben Hanson8-Jul-16 9:36 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 nice article. Pin
Nikhil_S21-Feb-12 1:40
professionalNikhil_S21-Feb-12 1:40 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Nice Algorithm. I modified the sourc... Pin
Dirk Moshage18-Jan-12 5:34
Dirk Moshage18-Jan-12 5:34 
Question[My vote of 1] my vote of 1: why not use standard regex? Pin
SledgeHammer019-Feb-10 9:28
SledgeHammer019-Feb-10 9:28 
AnswerRe: [My vote of 1] my vote of 1: why not use standard regex? Pin
PrzemekBenz9-Feb-10 10:07
PrzemekBenz9-Feb-10 10:07 
AnswerRe: [My vote of 1] my vote of 1: why not use standard regex? Pin
Michael Lee Yohe16-Feb-10 12:47
Michael Lee Yohe16-Feb-10 12:47 
AnswerRe: [My vote of 1] my vote of 1: why not use standard regex? Pin
PIEBALDconsult20-Feb-12 12:03
mvePIEBALDconsult20-Feb-12 12:03 

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