: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. 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