<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
<title>fnmatch – Compare filenames against Unix-style glob patterns. — Python Module of the Week</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/sphinxdoc.css" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" />
<script type="text/javascript">
var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = {
URL_ROOT: '../',
VERSION: '1.132',
COLLAPSE_INDEX: false,
FILE_SUFFIX: '.html',
HAS_SOURCE: true
};
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/jquery.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/underscore.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/doctools.js"></script>
<link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" />
<link rel="top" title="Python Module of the Week" href="../index.html" />
<link rel="up" title="File and Directory Access" href="../file_access.html" />
<link rel="next" title="linecache – Read text files efficiently" href="../linecache/index.html" />
<link rel="prev" title="glob – Filename pattern matching" href="../glob/index.html" />
</head>
<body>
<div class="related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
accesskey="I">index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../linecache/index.html" title="linecache – Read text files efficiently"
accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../glob/index.html" title="glob – Filename pattern matching"
accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
<li><a href="../contents.html">PyMOTW</a> »</li>
<li><a href="../file_access.html" accesskey="U">File and Directory Access</a> »</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="sphinxsidebar">
<div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
<h3><a href="../contents.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">fnmatch – Compare filenames against Unix-style glob patterns.</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#simple-matching">Simple Matching</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#filtering">Filtering</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#translating-patterns">Translating Patterns</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="../glob/index.html"
title="previous chapter">glob – Filename pattern matching</a></p>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="../linecache/index.html"
title="next chapter">linecache – Read text files efficiently</a></p>
<h3>This Page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../_sources/fnmatch/index.txt"
rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li>
</ul>
<div id="searchbox" style="display: none">
<h3>Quick search</h3>
<form class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input type="text" name="q" size="18" />
<input type="submit" value="Go" />
<input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
<input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
</form>
<p class="searchtip" style="font-size: 90%">
Enter search terms or a module, class or function name.
</p>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">$('#searchbox').show(0);</script>
</div>
</div>
<div class="document">
<div class="documentwrapper">
<div class="bodywrapper">
<div class="body">
<div class="section" id="module-fnmatch">
<span id="fnmatch-compare-filenames-against-unix-style-glob-patterns"></span><h1>fnmatch – Compare filenames against Unix-style glob patterns.<a class="headerlink" href="#module-fnmatch" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<table class="docutils field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Purpose:</th><td class="field-body">Handle Unix-style filename comparison with the fnmatch module.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Python Version:</th><td class="field-body">1.4 and later.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The fnmatch module is used to compare filenames against glob-style patterns
such as used by Unix shells.</p>
<div class="section" id="simple-matching">
<h2>Simple Matching<a class="headerlink" href="#simple-matching" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">fnmatch()</span></tt> compares a single filename against a pattern and returns
a boolean indicating whether or not they match. The comparison is
case-sensitive when the operating system uses a case-sensitive
filesystem.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">fnmatch</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="n">pattern</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">'fnmatch_*.py'</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Pattern :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span>
<span class="k">print</span>
<span class="n">files</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">listdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'.'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">name</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">files</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Filename: </span><span class="si">%-25s</span><span class="s"> </span><span class="si">%s</span><span class="s">'</span> <span class="o">%</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">fnmatch</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">fnmatch</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span><span class="p">))</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In this example, the pattern matches all files starting with ‘<a class="reference external" href="http://docs.python.org/library/fnmatch.html">fnmatch</a>‘ and
ending in ‘.py’.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python fnmatch_fnmatch.py
Pattern : fnmatch_*.py
Filename: __init__.py False
Filename: fnmatch_filter.py True
Filename: fnmatch_fnmatch.py True
Filename: fnmatch_fnmatchcase.py True
Filename: fnmatch_translate.py True
Filename: index.rst False</pre>
</div>
<p>To force a case-sensitive comparison, regardless of the filesystem and
operating system settings, use <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">fnmatchcase()</span></tt>.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">fnmatch</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="n">pattern</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">'FNMATCH_*.PY'</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Pattern :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span>
<span class="k">print</span>
<span class="n">files</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">listdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'.'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">name</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">files</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Filename: </span><span class="si">%-25s</span><span class="s"> </span><span class="si">%s</span><span class="s">'</span> <span class="o">%</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">fnmatch</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">fnmatchcase</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span><span class="p">))</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Since my laptop uses a case-sensitive filesystem, no files match the modified
pattern.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python fnmatch_fnmatchcase.py
Pattern : FNMATCH_*.PY
Filename: __init__.py False
Filename: fnmatch_filter.py False
Filename: fnmatch_fnmatch.py False
Filename: fnmatch_fnmatchcase.py False
Filename: fnmatch_translate.py False
Filename: index.rst False</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="filtering">
<h2>Filtering<a class="headerlink" href="#filtering" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>To test a sequence of filenames, you can use <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">filter()</span></tt>. It returns
a list of the names that match the pattern argument.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">fnmatch</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="n">pattern</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">'fnmatch_*.py'</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Pattern :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span>
<span class="n">files</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">listdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'.'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Files :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">files</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Matches :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">fnmatch</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">filter</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">files</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In this example, <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">filter()</span></tt> returns the list of names of the example
source files associated with this post.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python fnmatch_filter.py
Pattern : fnmatch_*.py
Files : ['__init__.py', 'fnmatch_filter.py', 'fnmatch_fnmatch.py', 'fnmatch_fnmatchcase.py', 'fnmatch_translate.py', 'index.rst']
Matches : ['fnmatch_filter.py', 'fnmatch_fnmatch.py', 'fnmatch_fnmatchcase.py', 'fnmatch_translate.py']</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="translating-patterns">
<h2>Translating Patterns<a class="headerlink" href="#translating-patterns" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Internally, fnmatch converts the glob pattern to a regular expression
and uses the <a class="reference internal" href="../re/index.html#module-re" title="re: Searching within and changing text using formal patterns."><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">re</span></tt></a> module to compare the name and pattern. The
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">translate()</span></tt> function is the public API for converting glob patterns to
regular expressions.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">fnmatch</span>
<span class="n">pattern</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s">'fnmatch_*.py'</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Pattern :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">pattern</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Regex :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">fnmatch</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">translate</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">pattern</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Notice that some of the characters are escaped to make a valid expression.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python fnmatch_translate.py
Pattern : fnmatch_*.py
Regex : fnmatch\_.*\.py\Z(?ms)</pre>
</div>
<div class="admonition-see-also admonition seealso">
<p class="first admonition-title">See also</p>
<dl class="last docutils">
<dt><a class="reference external" href="http://docs.python.org/library/fnmatch.html">fnmatch</a></dt>
<dd>The standard library documentation for this module.</dd>
<dt><a class="reference internal" href="../glob/index.html#module-glob" title="glob: Use Unix shell rules to fine filenames matching a pattern."><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">glob</span></tt></a></dt>
<dd>The glob module combines <a class="reference internal" href="#module-fnmatch" title="fnmatch: Compare filenames against Unix-style glob patterns."><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">fnmatch</span></tt></a> matching with
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.listdir()</span></tt> to produce lists of files and directories
matching patterns.</dd>
<dt><a class="reference internal" href="../articles/file_access.html#article-file-access"><em>File Access</em></a></dt>
<dd>More modules for working with files.</dd>
</dl>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
<div class="related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
>index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../linecache/index.html" title="linecache – Read text files efficiently"
>next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../glob/index.html" title="glob – Filename pattern matching"
>previous</a> |</li>
<li><a href="../contents.html">PyMOTW</a> »</li>
<li><a href="../file_access.html" >File and Directory Access</a> »</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="footer">
© Copyright Doug Hellmann.
Last updated on Oct 24, 2010.
Created using <a href="http://sphinx.pocoo.org/">Sphinx</a>.
<br/><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/" rel="license"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/88x31.png"/></a>
</div>
</body>
</html>