[Python-checkins] cpython (merge 3.2 -> 3.3): Issue #16695: Document how glob handles filenames starting with a dot

Sat Feb 23 19:58:23 CET 2013

http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/3e8b29512b2e
changeset: 82358:3e8b29512b2e
branch: 3.3
parent: 82354:18e20e146396
parent: 82357:b4434cbca953
user: Petri Lehtinen <petri at digip.org>
date: Sat Feb 23 19:55:36 2013 +0100
summary:
 Issue #16695: Document how glob handles filenames starting with a dot
files:
 Doc/library/glob.rst | 15 +++++++++++++--
 Lib/glob.py | 10 ++++++++--
 Misc/NEWS | 3 +++
 3 files changed, 24 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Doc/library/glob.rst b/Doc/library/glob.rst
--- a/Doc/library/glob.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/glob.rst
@@ -16,8 +16,10 @@
 ``*``, ``?``, 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`.)
+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 ``'?'``.
@@ -51,6 +53,15 @@
 >>> 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::
 
diff --git a/Lib/glob.py b/Lib/glob.py
--- a/Lib/glob.py
+++ b/Lib/glob.py
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@
 def glob(pathname):
 """Return a list of paths matching a pathname pattern.
 
- The pattern may contain simple shell-style wildcards a la fnmatch.
+ The pattern may contain simple shell-style wildcards a la
+ fnmatch. However, unlike fnmatch, filenames starting with a
+ dot are special cases that are not matched by '*' and '?'
+ patterns.
 
 """
 return list(iglob(pathname))
@@ -17,7 +20,10 @@
 def iglob(pathname):
 """Return an iterator which yields the paths matching a pathname pattern.
 
- The pattern may contain simple shell-style wildcards a la fnmatch.
+ The pattern may contain simple shell-style wildcards a la
+ fnmatch. However, unlike fnmatch, filenames starting with a
+ dot are special cases that are not matched by '*' and '?'
+ patterns.
 
 """
 if not has_magic(pathname):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -756,6 +756,9 @@
 Documentation
 -------------
 
+- Issue #16695: Document how glob handles filenames starting with a
+ dot. Initial patch by Jyrki Pulliainen.
+
 - Issue #8890: Stop advertising an insecure practice by replacing uses
 of the /tmp directory with better alternatives in the documentation.
 Patch by Geoff Wilson.
-- 
Repository URL: http://hg.python.org/cpython
