:mod:`glob` --- Unix style pathname pattern expansion

=====================================================

.. module:: glob

   :synopsis: Unix shell style pathname pattern expansion.

.. index:: single: filenames; pathname expansion

The :mod:`glob` module finds all the pathnames matching a specified pattern

according to the rules used by the Unix shell.  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.  (For tilde and shell variable expansion, use

:func:`os.path.expanduser` and :func:`os.path.expandvars`.)

.. 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']

.. seealso::

   Module :mod:`fnmatch`

      Shell-style filename (not path) expansion