You can print information about a group of files based on patterns or characters using wildcards.
| Wildcard | Meaning |
|---|---|
| * | Matches any number of characters |
| ? | Matches any single character |
| [character_class] |
Matches any character that is a member of the specified character class. Character Classes: [:alnum:] Alphanumeric characters [:alpha:] Alphabetic characters [:digit:] Numerals [:upper:] Uppercase alphabetic characters [:lower:] Lowercase alphabetic characters |
| [!character_class] | Matches any character that is not a member of the specified character class |
| Pattern | Matches |
|---|---|
| AB* | List all the filenames that begin with "AB" |
| *AB | List all the filenames that end with "AB" |
| AB*.txt | List all the filenames that begin with "AB" and end with ".txt" |
| AB??? | List all the filenames that begin with "AB" followed by exactly three characters |
| [aA]* | List all the filenames that begin with "a" or "A" |
| [aA]?.txt | List all the filenames that begin with "a" or "A" followed by one character and ".txt" |
| [[:upper:]]* | List any filenames that begin with an uppercase letter |
| [![:upper:]]* | List any filenames that do not begin with an uppercase letter |
$ ls /Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/p*
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/patel and shen.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/perez 2013.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pnas-0502843102.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pnas.201604898.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pnas01522-0696.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/poldrack ROI analysis.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pone.0088419.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pone.0113807.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pq004724.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/pq008939.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/precuneus.pdf
/Volumes/MyDrive/MyFolder/Articles/prefrontalCortex.pdf
$ ls /Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/[pr]*
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/patel and shen.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/perez 2013.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pnas-0502843102.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pnas.201604898.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pnas01522-0696.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/poldrack ROI analysis.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pone.0088419.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pone.0113807.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pq004724.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pq008939.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/precuneus.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/prefrontalCortex.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/raz 2004.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/read1_Brain-2006-Ciccarelli-1859-71.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/read2_6165.pdf
$ ls /Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/[pr]*.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/patel and shen.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/perez 2013.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pnas-0502843102.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pnas.201604898.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pnas01522-0696.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/poldrack ROI analysis.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pone.0088419.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pone.0113807.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pq004724.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/pq008939.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/precuneus.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/prefrontalCortex.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/raz 2004.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/read1_Brain-2006-Ciccarelli-1859-71.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/read2_6165.pdf
$ ls /Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/[pr]????????.pdf
/Volumes/MyExternalDrive/Shared/Articles/precuneus.pdf