Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label wildcard

How wildcards work in Linux and Unix

Wildcards The * wildcard The character   *   is called a wildcard, and will match against none or more character(s) in a file (or directory) name. For example, in your   unixstuff directory, type % ls list* This will list all files in the current directory starting with   list.... Try typing % ls *list This will list all files in the current directory ending with   ....list The ? wildcard The character   ?   will match exactly one character. So   ?ouse   will match files like   house   and   mouse , but not   grouse .   Try typing % ls ?list  Filename conventions We should note here that a directory is merely a special type of file. So the rules and conventions for naming files apply also to directories. In naming files, characters with special meanings such as   / * & %   , should be avoided. Also, avoid using spaces within names. The safest way to name a f...