minimatch/README.md

# minimatch

A minimal matching utility.

This is the matching library used internally by npm.

It works by converting glob expressions into JavaScript `RegExp`
objects.

## Usage

```js
// hybrid module, load with require() or import
import { minimatch } from 'minimatch'
// or:
const { minimatch } = require('minimatch')

minimatch('bar.foo', '*.foo') // true!
minimatch('bar.foo', '*.bar') // false!
minimatch('bar.foo', '*.+(bar|foo)', { debug: true }) // true, and noisy!
```

## Features

Supports these glob features:

- Brace Expansion
- Extended glob matching
- "Globstar" `**` matching
- [Posix character
  classes](https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Pattern-Matching.html),
  like `[[:alpha:]]`, supporting the full range of Unicode
  characters. For example, `[[:alpha:]]` will match against
  `'é'`, though `[a-zA-Z]` will not. Collating symbol and set
  matching is not supported, so `[[=e=]]` will _not_ match `'é'`
  and `[[.ch.]]` will not match `'ch'` in locales where `ch` is
  considered a single character.

See:

- `man sh`
- `man bash` [Pattern
  Matching](https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Pattern-Matching.html)
- `man 3 fnmatch`
- `man 5 gitignore`

## Windows

**Please only use forward-slashes in glob expressions.**

Though windows uses either `/` or `\` as its path separator, only `/`
characters are used by this glob implementation. You must use
forward-slashes **only** in glob expressions. Back-slashes in patterns
will always be interpreted as escape characters, not path separators.

Note that `\` or `/` _will_ be interpreted as path separators in paths on
Windows, and will match against `/` in glob expressions.

So just always use `/` in patterns.

### UNC Paths

On Windows, UNC paths like `//?/c:/...` or
`//ComputerName/Share/...` are handled specially.

- Patterns starting with a double-slash followed by some
  non-slash characters will preserve their double-slash. As a
  result, a pattern like `//*` will match `//x`, but not `/x`.
- Patterns staring with `//?/<drive letter>:` will _not_ treat
  the `?` as a wildcard character. Instead, it will be treated
  as a normal string.
- Patterns starting with `//?/<drive letter>:/...` will match
  file paths starting with `<drive letter>:/...`, and vice versa,
  as if the `//?/` was not present. This behavior only is
  present when the drive letters are a case-insensitive match to
  one another. The remaining portions of the path/pattern are
  compared case sensitively, unless `nocase:true` is set.

Note that specifying a UNC path using `\` characters as path
separators is always allowed in the file path argument, but only
allowed in the pattern argument when `windowsPathsNoEscape: true`
is set in the options.

## Minimatch Class

Create a minimatch object by instantiating the `minimatch.Minimatch` class.

```javascript
var Minimatch = require('minimatch').Minimatch
var mm = new Minimatch(pattern, options)
```

### Properties

- `pattern` The original pattern the minimatch object represents.
- `options` The options supplied to the constructor.
- `set` A 2-dimensional array of regexp or string expressions.
  Each row in the
  array corresponds to a brace-expanded pattern. Each item in the row
  corresponds to a single path-part. For example, the pattern
  `{a,b/c}/d` would expand to a set of patterns like:

        [ [ a, d ]
        , [ b, c, d ] ]

  If a portion of the pattern doesn't have any "magic" in it
  (that is, it's something like `"foo"` rather than `fo*o?`), then it
  will be left as a string rather than converted to a regular
  expression.

- `regexp` Created by the `makeRe` method. A single regular expression
  expressing the entire pattern. This is useful in cases where you wish
  to use the pattern somewhat like `fnmatch(3)` with `FNM_PATH` enabled.
- `negate` True if the pattern is negated.
- `comment` True if the pattern is a comment.
- `empty` True if the pattern is `""`.

### Methods

- `makeRe()` Generate the `regexp` member if necessary, and return it.
  Will return `false` if the pattern is invalid.
- `match(fname)` Return true if the filename matches the pattern, or
  false otherwise.
- `matchOne(fileArray, patternArray, partial)` Take a `/`-split
  filename, and match it against a single row in the `regExpSet`. This
  method is mainly for internal use, but is exposed so that it can be
  used by a glob-walker that needs to avoid excessive filesystem calls.
- `hasMagic()` Returns true if the parsed pattern contains any
  magic characters. Returns false if all comparator parts are
  string literals. If the `magicalBraces` option is set on the
  constructor, then it will consider brace expansions which are
  not otherwise magical to be magic. If not set, then a pattern
  like `a{b,c}d` will return `false`, because neither `abd` nor
  `acd` contain any special glob characters.

  This does **not** mean that the pattern string can be used as a
  literal filename, as it may contain magic glob characters that
  are escaped. For example, the pattern `\\*` or `[*]` would not
  be considered to have magic, as the matching portion parses to
  the literal string `'*'` and would match a path named `'*'`,
  not `'\\*'` or `'[*]'`. The `minimatch.unescape()` method may
  be used to remove escape characters.

All other methods are internal, and will be called as necessary.

### minimatch(path, pattern, options)

Main export. Tests a path against the pattern using the options.

```javascript
var isJS = minimatch(file, '*.js', { matchBase: true })
```

### minimatch.filter(pattern, options)

Returns a function that tests its
supplied argument, suitable for use with `Array.filter`. Example:

```javascript
var javascripts = fileList.filter(minimatch.filter('*.js', { matchBase: true }))
```

### minimatch.escape(pattern, options = {})

Escape all magic characters in a glob pattern, so that it will
only ever match literal strings

If the `windowsPathsNoEscape` option is used, then characters are
escaped by wrapping in `[]`, because a magic character wrapped in
a character class can only be satisfied by that exact character.

Slashes (and backslashes in `windowsPathsNoEscape` mode) cannot
be escaped or unescaped.

### minimatch.unescape(pattern, options = {})

Un-escape a glob string that may contain some escaped characters.

If the `windowsPathsNoEscape` option is used, then square-brace
escapes are removed, but not backslash escapes. For example, it
will turn the string `'[*]'` into `*`, but it will not turn
`'\\*'` into `'*'`, because `\` is a path separator in
`windowsPathsNoEscape` mode.

When `windowsPathsNoEscape` is not set, then both brace escapes
and backslash escapes are removed.

Slashes (and backslashes in `windowsPathsNoEscape` mode) cannot
be escaped or unescaped.

### minimatch.match(list, pattern, options)

Match against the list of
files, in the style of fnmatch or glob. If nothing is matched, and
options.nonull is set, then return a list containing the pattern itself.

```javascript
var javascripts = minimatch.match(fileList, '*.js', { matchBase: true })
```

### minimatch.makeRe(pattern, options)

Make a regular expression object from the pattern.

## Options

All options are `false` by default.

### debug

Dump a ton of stuff to stderr.

### nobrace

Do not expand `{a,b}` and `{1..3}` brace sets.

### noglobstar

Disable `**` matching against multiple folder names.

### dot

Allow patterns to match filenames starting with a period, even if
the pattern does not explicitly have a period in that spot.

Note that by default, `a/**/b` will **not** match `a/.d/b`, unless `dot`
is set.

### noext

Disable "extglob" style patterns like `+(a|b)`.

### nocase

Perform a case-insensitive match.

### nocaseMagicOnly

When used with `{nocase: true}`, create regular expressions that
are case-insensitive, but leave string match portions untouched.
Has no effect when used without `{nocase: true}`

Useful when some other form of case-insensitive matching is used,
or if the original string representation is useful in some other
way.

### nonull

When a match is not found by `minimatch.match`, return a list containing
the pattern itself if this option is set. When not set, an empty list
is returned if there are no matches.

### magicalBraces

This only affects the results of the `Minimatch.hasMagic` method.

If the pattern contains brace expansions, such as `a{b,c}d`, but
no other magic characters, then the `Minimatch.hasMagic()` method
will return `false` by default. When this option set, it will
return `true` for brace expansion as well as other magic glob
characters.

### matchBase

If set, then patterns without slashes will be matched
against the basename of the path if it contains slashes. For example,
`a?b` would match the path `/xyz/123/acb`, but not `/xyz/acb/123`.

### nocomment

Suppress the behavior of treating `#` at the start of a pattern as a
comment.

### nonegate

Suppress the behavior of treating a leading `!` character as negation.

### flipNegate

Returns from negate expressions the same as if they were not negated.
(Ie, true on a hit, false on a miss.)

### partial

Compare a partial path to a pattern. As long as the parts of the path that
are present are not contradicted by the pattern, it will be treated as a
match. This is useful in applications where you're walking through a
folder structure, and don't yet have the full path, but want to ensure that
you do not walk down paths that can never be a match.

For example,

```js
minimatch('/a/b', '/a/*/c/d', { partial: true }) // true, might be /a/b/c/d
minimatch('/a/b', '/**/d', { partial: true }) // true, might be /a/b/.../d
minimatch('/x/y/z', '/a/**/z', { partial: true }) // false, because x !== a
```

### windowsPathsNoEscape

Use `\\` as a path separator _only_, and _never_ as an escape
character. If set, all `\\` characters are replaced with `/` in
the pattern. Note that this makes it **impossible** to match
against paths containing literal glob pattern characters, but
allows matching with patterns constructed using `path.join()` and
`path.resolve()` on Windows platforms, mimicking the (buggy!)
behavior of earlier versions on Windows. Please use with
caution, and be mindful of [the caveat about Windows
paths](#windows).

For legacy reasons, this is also set if
`options.allowWindowsEscape` is set to the exact value `false`.

### windowsNoMagicRoot

When a pattern starts with a UNC path or drive letter, and in
`nocase:true` mode, do not convert the root portions of the
pattern into a case-insensitive regular expression, and instead
leave them as strings.

This is the default when the platform is `win32` and
`nocase:true` is set.

### preserveMultipleSlashes

By default, multiple `/` characters (other than the leading `//`
in a UNC path, see "UNC Paths" above) are treated as a single
`/`.

That is, a pattern like `a///b` will match the file path `a/b`.

Set `preserveMultipleSlashes: true` to suppress this behavior.

### optimizationLevel

A number indicating the level of optimization that should be done
to the pattern prior to parsing and using it for matches.

Globstar parts `**` are always converted to `*` when `noglobstar`
is set, and multiple adjascent `**` parts are converted into a
single `**` (ie, `a/**/**/b` will be treated as `a/**/b`, as this
is equivalent in all cases).

- `0` - Make no further changes. In this mode, `.` and `..` are
  maintained in the pattern, meaning that they must also appear
  in the same position in the test path string. Eg, a pattern
  like `a/*/../c` will match the string `a/b/../c` but not the
  string `a/c`.
- `1` - (default) Remove cases where a double-dot `..` follows a
  pattern portion that is not `**`, `.`, `..`, or empty `''`. For
  example, the pattern `./a/b/../*` is converted to `./a/*`, and
  so it will match the path string `./a/c`, but not the path
  string `./a/b/../c`. Dots and empty path portions in the
  pattern are preserved.
- `2` (or higher) - Much more aggressive optimizations, suitable
  for use with file-walking cases:

  - Remove cases where a double-dot `..` follows a pattern
    portion that is not `**`, `.`, or empty `''`. Remove empty
    and `.` portions of the pattern, where safe to do so (ie,
    anywhere other than the last position, the first position, or
    the second position in a pattern starting with `/`, as this
    may indicate a UNC path on Windows).
  - Convert patterns containing `<pre>/**/../<p>/<rest>` into the
    equivalent `<pre>/{..,**}/<p>/<rest>`, where `<p>` is a
    a pattern portion other than `.`, `..`, `**`, or empty
    `''`.
  - Dedupe patterns where a `**` portion is present in one and
    omitted in another, and it is not the final path portion, and
    they are otherwise equivalent. So `{a/**/b,a/b}` becomes
    `a/**/b`, because `**` matches against an empty path portion.
  - Dedupe patterns where a `*` portion is present in one, and a
    non-dot pattern other than `**`, `.`, `..`, or `''` is in the
    same position in the other. So `a/{*,x}/b` becomes `a/*/b`,
    because `*` can match against `x`.

  While these optimizations improve the performance of
  file-walking use cases such as [glob](http://npm.im/glob) (ie,
  the reason this module exists), there are cases where it will
  fail to match a literal string that would have been matched in
  optimization level 1 or 0.

  Specifically, while the `Minimatch.match()` method will
  optimize the file path string in the same ways, resulting in
  the same matches, it will fail when tested with the regular
  expression provided by `Minimatch.makeRe()`, unless the path
  string is first processed with
  `minimatch.levelTwoFileOptimize()` or similar.

### platform

When set to `win32`, this will trigger all windows-specific
behaviors (special handling for UNC paths, and treating `\` as
separators in file paths for comparison.)

Defaults to the value of `process.platform`.

## Comparisons to other fnmatch/glob implementations

While strict compliance with the existing standards is a
worthwhile goal, some discrepancies exist between minimatch and
other implementations. Some are intentional, and some are
unavoidable.

If the pattern starts with a `!` character, then it is negated. Set the
`nonegate` flag to suppress this behavior, and treat leading `!`
characters normally. This is perhaps relevant if you wish to start the
pattern with a negative extglob pattern like `!(a|B)`. Multiple `!`
characters at the start of a pattern will negate the pattern multiple
times.

If a pattern starts with `#`, then it is treated as a comment, and
will not match anything. Use `\#` to match a literal `#` at the
start of a line, or set the `nocomment` flag to suppress this behavior.

The double-star character `**` is supported by default, unless the
`noglobstar` flag is set. This is supported in the manner of bsdglob
and bash 4.1, where `**` only has special significance if it is the only
thing in a path part. That is, `a/**/b` will match `a/x/y/b`, but
`a/**b` will not.

If an escaped pattern has no matches, and the `nonull` flag is set,
then minimatch.match returns the pattern as-provided, rather than
interpreting the character escapes. For example,
`minimatch.match([], "\\*a\\?")` will return `"\\*a\\?"` rather than
`"*a?"`. This is akin to setting the `nullglob` option in bash, except
that it does not resolve escaped pattern characters.

If brace expansion is not disabled, then it is performed before any
other interpretation of the glob pattern. Thus, a pattern like
`+(a|{b),c)}`, which would not be valid in bash or zsh, is expanded
**first** into the set of `+(a|b)` and `+(a|c)`, and those patterns are
checked for validity. Since those two are valid, matching proceeds.

Negated extglob patterns are handled as closely as possible to
Bash semantics, but there are some cases with negative extglobs
which are exceedingly difficult to express in a JavaScript
regular expression. In particular the negated pattern
`<start>!(<pattern>*|)*` will in bash match anything that does
not start with `<start><pattern>`. However,
`<start>!(<pattern>*)*` _will_ match paths starting with
`<start><pattern>`, because the empty string can match against
the negated portion. In this library, `<start>!(<pattern>*|)*`
will _not_ match any pattern starting with `<start>`, due to a
difference in precisely which patterns are considered "greedy" in
Regular Expressions vs bash path expansion. This may be fixable,
but not without incurring some complexity and performance costs,
and the trade-off seems to not be worth pursuing.

Note that `fnmatch(3)` in libc is an extremely naive string comparison
matcher, which does not do anything special for slashes. This library is
designed to be used in glob searching and file walkers, and so it does do
special things with `/`. Thus, `foo*` will not match `foo/bar` in this
library, even though it would in `fnmatch(3)`.