Meziantou.Framework

Introduction

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Meziantou.Framework.Globbing matches paths against glob patterns such as src/**/*.cs, and enumerates the files and directories that match them. It reads the patterns of several tools: its own syntax, .gitignore files, MSBuild item specs and POSIX fnmatch.

What you can do with it

  • Test a path: check whether a path, or a directory and a file name, matches a pattern, without touching the file system. See Matching paths.
  • Enumerate files: list the files or the directories of a folder that match a pattern. Only the directories that can hold a match are visited. See Enumerating files.
  • Combine patterns: include some paths and exclude others with a GlobCollection. See Combining patterns.
  • Read .gitignore files: load the content of a .gitignore file and check which paths git ignores. See Reading .gitignore files.
  • Use the syntax your users know: parse a pattern as git, MSBuild or fnmatch would. See Dialects.

Principles

  • A pattern is parsed once. Glob.Parse validates the pattern and returns a Glob that you can reuse for as many paths as you want. An invalid pattern throws, or makes Glob.TryParse return false, instead of silently matching nothing.
  • The dialect is explicit. Every call to Parse names the dialect of the pattern. The same characters can mean different things in two dialects: {a,b} is a choice in the standard syntax and plain text in a .gitignore file.
  • Matching is a string operation. IsMatch reads the path you give it; it never checks whether the file exists.
  • Enumeration is built on System.IO.Enumeration. The results are full paths, and the same EnumerationOptions apply.

Namespaces

Every type is in the Meziantou.Framework.Globbing namespace: Glob, GlobCollection, GlobDialect, GlobOptions and the IsMatch and EnumerateFiles extension methods.

Next steps

  • Getting started: install the package, match a path and enumerate files.
  • Pattern syntax: the wildcards, and how files, directories and hidden names are matched.
  • Dialects: choose between the standard syntax and the ones of git, MSBuild and fnmatch.