Mixed

In this lesson, we’ll take your globbing skills to the next level by combining ?, *, and escape sequences to match complex filename patterns. Glob patterns allow you to filter filenames efficiently without resorting to regular expressions.

Below is a quick summary of common glob operators:

Workflow for Building Complex Globs

1. Sample Selection
   Collect filenames and mark matches (✅) vs. non-matches (❌). Identify blue segments (literal text) and yellow segments (wildcards).

2. Category Order
   Note the sequence of blue and yellow segments in the target filenames.

3. Construct the Glob
   Concatenate literals and wildcards in the order you determined.

Example 1: Match “file.” plus at Least One Character

Samples

file.        ❌  
file.c       ✅  
file.conf    ✅  
file.txt     ✅  
data.sh      ❌  

1. Blue: file.
2. Yellow: ? (one char) then * (rest)
3. Glob: file.?*

$ ls file.?*
file.c  file.conf  file.txt

Example 2: Match “file_” Prefix and a Three-Character Extension

Samples

file_1.txt    ✅  
file_2.doc    ✅  
file_1_a.sh   ❌  
file_2_b.doc  ✅  

1. Blue: file_
2. Yellow: * (any chars before dot)
3. Blue: .
4. Yellow: ??? (exactly three)
5. Glob: file_*.___

$ ls file_*.___
file_1.txt  file_2.doc  file_2_b.doc

Example 3: Match Any Name with a Four-Character Extension

Samples

document1.txt  ❌  
image1.py      ❌  
report2.pdf    ❌  
memo1.docx     ✅  
invoice3.xlsx  ✅  

1. Yellow: * (any prefix)
2. Blue: .
3. Yellow: ???? (exactly four)
4. Glob: *.????

$ ls *.????
memo1.docx  invoice3.xlsx

Example 4: Match Names Containing “1” Then One More Character, Then an Extension

Samples

file1.sh           ❌  
document1M.docx    ✅  
file3.txt          ❌  
image1T.png        ✅  

1. Yellow: * (any prefix)
2. Blue: 1
3. Yellow: ? (one char)
4. Blue: .
5. Yellow: * (any extension)
6. Glob: *1?.*

$ ls *1?.*
document1M.docx  image1T.png

Example 5: Escaping a Literal “*” in Filenames

Samples

R*al.py        ✅  
f*a*il.txt     ✅  
hail.doc       ❌  
S*ail.txt      ✅  
m*a?i*l.sh     ✅  
4ai*l.txt      ❌  

1. Yellow: ? (any single)
2. Blue: \* (escaped *)
3. Blue: a
4. Yellow: *
5. Blue: .
6. Yellow: *
7. Glob: ?\*a*.*

$ ls '?\*a*.*'
R*al.py  f*a*il.txt  S*ail.txt  m*a?i*l.sh

Example 6: Escaping a Backslash and Question Mark

Samples

file5\?xt             ✅  
file_1234567\?890?xt  ✅  
docA\?.docx           ✅  
docZ.docx             ❌  
rep1.txt              ❌  

1. Yellow: * (any prefix)
2. Blue: \\? (escaped \?)
3. Yellow: * (any remainder)
4. Glob: *\\?*

$ ls '*\\?*'
file5\?xt  file_1234567\?890?xt  docA\?.docx

Conclusion

By splitting filenames into literal (blue) and wildcard (yellow) segments, you can craft precise glob patterns for matching even the trickiest file names.

Links and References

• Bash Pattern Matching
• GNU Bash Manual