Bash - pathname expansion (Filename expansion)

pathname or filename expansion is the possibility to define filename via globbing wildcard.

• asterix matches every filename in a given directory.

echo * # will list all files in the current directory
echo t* # will list all files that start with t

• ? matches a single character

echo t?.sh # will list the file that start with t and have two characters

The globstar parameters should be set to enable Glob - Globbing (Wildcard expression)

shopt -s globstar
ls **/
shopt -u globstar
ls **/

If followed by a /, two adjacent *s will match only directories and subdirectories.

braces globbing is supported on the last bash version

ls -l {b*,c*,*est*}

• Doc
• More on globbing pathnames or

man 7 glob | col -b > glob.txt