:mod:`glob` --- Unix style pathname pattern expansion ===================================================== .. module:: glob :synopsis: Unix shell style pathname pattern expansion. .. index:: single: filenames; pathname expansion **Source code:** :source:`Lib/glob.py` -------------- The :mod:`glob` module finds all the pathnames matching a specified pattern according to the rules used by the Unix shell, although results are returned in arbitrary order. No tilde expansion is done, but ``*``, ``?``, and character ranges expressed with ``[]`` will be correctly matched. This is done by using the :func:`os.listdir` and :func:`fnmatch.fnmatch` functions in concert, and not by actually invoking a subshell. Note that unlike :func:`fnmatch.fnmatch`, :mod:`glob` treats filenames beginning with a dot (``.``) as special cases. (For tilde and shell variable expansion, use :func:`os.path.expanduser` and :func:`os.path.expandvars`.) For a literal match, wrap the meta-characters in brackets. For example, ``'[?]'`` matches the character ``'?'``. .. function:: glob(pathname) Return a possibly-empty list of path names that match *pathname*, which must be a string containing a path specification. *pathname* can be either absolute (like :file:`/usr/src/Python-1.5/Makefile`) or relative (like :file:`../../Tools/\*/\*.gif`), and can contain shell-style wildcards. Broken symlinks are included in the results (as in the shell). .. function:: iglob(pathname) Return an :term:`iterator` which yields the same values as :func:`glob` without actually storing them all simultaneously. .. versionadded:: 2.5 For example, consider a directory containing only the following files: :file:`1.gif`, :file:`2.txt`, and :file:`card.gif`. :func:`glob` will produce the following results. Notice how any leading components of the path are preserved. :: >>> import glob >>> glob.glob('./[0-9].*') ['./1.gif', './2.txt'] >>> glob.glob('*.gif') ['1.gif', 'card.gif'] >>> glob.glob('?.gif') ['1.gif'] If the directory contains files starting with ``.`` they won't be matched by default. For example, consider a directory containing :file:`card.gif` and :file:`.card.gif`:: >>> import glob >>> glob.glob('*.gif') ['card.gif'] >>> glob.glob('.c*') ['.card.gif'] .. seealso:: Module :mod:`fnmatch` Shell-style filename (not path) expansion