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I'm probably a relic, but I expected the old standard "*" (match zero or more characters) and "?" (match any 1 character) filename wildcarding characters to work in a Command |
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09-26-2008, 03:56 PM
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I'm probably a relic, but I expected the old standard "*" (match zero or more
characters) and "?" (match any 1 character) filename wildcarding characters to work in a Command Prompt window. They do work, after a fashion, but not in the way I would expect. For example: dir *.d?? displays files such as "Test.docx" dir *s.* displays files such as "exam.xls" Interestingly, the same wildcarded search patterns work as I expect in an Explorer search window. What exactly are the wildcard characters that cmd.exe accepts, and how are they interpreted? |
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09-26-2008, 04:04 PM
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"Sean Nelson" <SeanNelson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:42D4FD28-2BC6-42DE-8236-E0A07C9772E6@microsoft.com... > I'm probably a relic, but I expected the old standard "*" (match zero or > more > characters) and "?" (match any 1 character) filename wildcarding > characters > to work in a Command Prompt window. They do work, after a fashion, but > not > in the way I would expect. For example: > > dir *.d?? displays files such as "Test.docx" > > dir *s.* displays files such as "exam.xls" > > Interestingly, the same wildcarded search patterns work as I expect in an > Explorer search window. > > What exactly are the wildcard characters that cmd.exe accepts, and how are > they interpreted? You're tripping over the Short File Name (SFN) representation of your files. When you enter the command dir test.* /x then you will immediately see why your own dir command worked the way it did. |
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09-26-2008, 04:20 PM
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"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> > dir *.d?? displays files such as "Test.docx" > > dir *s.* displays files such as "exam.xls" > You're tripping over the Short File Name (SFN) representation of your files. > When you enter the command > dir test.* /x > then you will immediately see why your own dir command worked the way it > did. Thanks - that explains the *.d?? pattern match. Is there a way to prevent matches against the short file names (other than turning off short filename generation altogether)? But it doesn't explain why "*s.???" matches "exam.xls", since this file has no short file name. |
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09-26-2008, 04:27 PM
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See below.
"Sean Nelson" <SeanNelson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:EF4D6E72-21F7-436C-B7CB-8226FF147FA3@microsoft.com... > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote: >> > dir *.d?? displays files such as "Test.docx" >> > dir *s.* displays files such as "exam.xls" > >> You're tripping over the Short File Name (SFN) representation of your >> files. >> When you enter the command >> dir test.* /x >> then you will immediately see why your own dir command worked the way it >> did. > > Thanks - that explains the *.d?? pattern match. Is there a way to prevent > matches against the short file names (other than turning off short > filename > generation altogether)? No, there isn't while SFN generation is active. > But it doesn't explain why "*s.???" matches "exam.xls", since this file > has > no short file name. You've got me there. It appears that the "*s" bit picks up the "s" in "xls" .. . . |
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09-26-2008, 09:37 PM
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That would be the difference between ? and *. * means everything - I only
use * at the end. "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message news:uQz0$6BIJHA.468@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > See below. > > "Sean Nelson" <SeanNelson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:EF4D6E72-21F7-436C-B7CB-8226FF147FA3@microsoft.com... >> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote: >>> > dir *.d?? displays files such as "Test.docx" >>> > dir *s.* displays files such as "exam.xls" >> >>> You're tripping over the Short File Name (SFN) representation of your >>> files. >>> When you enter the command >>> dir test.* /x >>> then you will immediately see why your own dir command worked the way it >>> did. >> >> Thanks - that explains the *.d?? pattern match. Is there a way to >> prevent >> matches against the short file names (other than turning off short >> filename >> generation altogether)? > No, there isn't while SFN generation is active. > >> But it doesn't explain why "*s.???" matches "exam.xls", since this file >> has >> no short file name. > You've got me there. It appears that the "*s" bit picks up the "s" in > "xls" . . . > |
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| characters, cmdexe, filename, wilcard |
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