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:mod:`glob` --- Unix style pathname pattern expansion

.. module:: glob
   :synopsis: Unix shell style pathname pattern expansion.

Source code: :source:`Lib/glob.py`

.. index:: single: filenames; pathname expansion

The :mod:`glob` module finds all the pathnames matching a specified pattern according to the rules used by the Unix shell, although results are returned in arbitrary order. 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 '?'.

.. seealso::
   The :mod:`pathlib` module offers high-level path objects.



.. function:: glob(pathname, *, recursive=False)

   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).

   If *recursive* is true, the pattern "``**``" will match any files and zero or
   more directories and subdirectories.  If the pattern is followed by an
   ``os.sep``, only directories and subdirectories match.

   .. note::
      Using the "``**``" pattern in large directory trees may consume
      an inordinate amount of time.

   .. versionchanged:: 3.5
      Support for recursive globs using "``**``".



.. function:: iglob(pathname, recursive=False)

   Return an :term:`iterator` which yields the same values as :func:`glob`
   without actually storing them all simultaneously.



.. function:: escape(pathname)

   Escape all special characters (``'?'``, ``'*'`` and ``'['``).
   This is useful if you want to match an arbitrary literal string that may
   have special characters in it.  Special characters in drive/UNC
   sharepoints are not escaped, e.g. on Windows
   ``escape('//?/c:/Quo vadis?.txt')`` returns ``'//?/c:/Quo vadis[?].txt'``.

   .. versionadded:: 3.4

For example, consider a directory containing the following files: :file:`1.gif`, :file:`2.txt`, :file:`card.gif` and a subdirectory :file:`sub` which contains only the file :file:`3.txt`. :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']
>>> glob.glob('**/*.txt', recursive=True)
['2.txt', 'sub/3.txt']
>>> glob.glob('./**/', recursive=True)
['./', './sub/']

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