*

All

Match zero or more characters. For example, a* matches the files a, ab, abc, abc.d, and so on. (zsh users: also see x# and x##, below.)

?

All

Match exactly one character. For example, a? matches aa, ab, ac, etc.

[12..a..z]

All

Match any character listed in the brackets. For example, a[ab] matches aa or ab.

[a-z]

All

Match all characters between a and z, in a case-sensitive manner, based on the characters' value in the ASCII character set. For example, a[0-9] matches a0, a1, and so on, up to a9.

[!ab..z]

bash, ksh, zsh, newer sh

Match any character that does not appear within the brackets. For example, a[!0-9] doesn't match a0 but does match aa.

[^ab..z]

tcsh, zsh

Match any character that does not appear within the brackets. For example, a[^0-9] doesn't match a0, but does match aa.

<m-n>

zsh

Any number in the range m to n. If m is omitted, this matches numbers less than or equal to n. If n is omitted, it matches numbers greater than or equal to m. The pattern <-> matches all numbers.

{word1,word2...}

bash, csh, pdksh, zsh

Match word1, word2, etc. For example, a_{dog,cat,horse} matches the filenames a_dog, a_cat, and a_horse. These ( (Section 28.4) actually aren't filename-matching wildcards. They expand to all strings you specify, including filenames that don't exist yet, email addresses, and more. (If you want to match one or more of a group of filenames that already exist, see also the parenthesis operators ( ) below.)

?(x|y|z)

ksh, bash2

Match zero or one instance of any of the specified patterns. For example, w?(abc)w matches ww or wabcw. Also, ?(foo|bar) matches only foo, bar, and the empty string. In bash2, this works only if you've set the extglob option using shopt.

*(x|y|z)

ksh, bash2

Match zero or more instances of any of the specified patterns. For example, w*(abc)w matches ww, wabcw, wabcabcw, etc. Also, *(foo|bar) matches foo, bar, foobarfoo, etc., as well as the empty string. In bash2, this works only if you've set the extglob option using shopt.

+(x|y|z)

ksh, bash2

Match one or more instances of any of the specified patterns. For example, w+(abc)w matches wabcw, wabcabcw, etc. Also, +(foo|bar) matches foo, bar, foobarfoo, etc. In bash2, this works only if you've set the extglob option using shopt.

@(x|y|z)

ksh, bash2

Match exactly one of any of the specified patterns. For example, @(foo|bar) matches foo or bar. (See also {word1,word2...}.) In bash2, this works only if you've set the extglob option using shopt.

!(x|y|z)

ksh, bash2

Match anything that doesn't contain any of the specified patterns. For example, w!(abc)w doesn't match wabcw or wabcabcw, but it does match practically anything else that begins or ends with w. Also, !(foo|bar) matches all strings except foo and bar. In bash2, this works only if you've set the extglob option using shopt. (For other shells, see nom (Section 33.8).)

^pat

tcsh, zsh

Match any name that doesn't match pat. In zsh, this only works if you've set the EXTENDED_GLOB option. In tcsh, the pat must include at least one of the wildcards *, ? and [ ]. So, to match all except a single name in tcsh, here's a trick: put brackets around one character. For instance, you can match all except abc with ^ab[c]. (For other shells, see nom (Section 33.8).)

(x|y)

zsh

Match either x or y. The vertical bar (|) must be used inside parentheses.

**

zsh

Search recursively.

***

zsh

Search recursively, following symbolic links to directories.

x#

zsh

Matches zero or more occurrences of the pattern x (like the regular expresssion (Section 32.2) x*). The pattern can have parentheses ( ) around it. You must have set the EXTENDED_GLOB option.

x##

zsh

Matches one or more occurrences of the pattern x (like the regular expresssion (Section 32.15) x+). The pattern can have parentheses ( ) around it. You must have set the EXTENDED_GLOB option.