# Python Fnmatch Module

The `fnmatch` module provides support for Unix shell-style wildcards, which are not the same as regular expressions (which are documented in the `re` module). The special characters used in shell-style wildcards are:

*   `*`: Matches everything.
*   `?`: Matches any single character.
*   `[seq]`: Matches any character in *seq*.
*   `[!seq]`: Matches any character not in *seq*.

## Importing the Module

```python
import fnmatch
```

## Matching Filenames

### `fnmatch()`

Test whether the filename string matches the pattern string, returning `True` or `False`. Note that the case-sensitivity of this function depends on the operating system.

```python
import fnmatch
import os

pattern = '*.py'
print(fnmatch.fnmatch('script.py', pattern)) # True
print(fnmatch.fnmatch('script.txt', pattern)) # False
```

### `fnmatchcase()`

Test whether the filename matches the pattern, but the comparison is case-sensitive regardless of the operating system.

```python
import fnmatch

print(fnmatch.fnmatchcase('Script.py', '*.py')) # False
print(fnmatch.fnmatchcase('script.py', '*.py')) # True
```

## Filtering Lists

### `filter()`

Return the subset of the list of names that match the pattern. It is the same as `[n for n in names if fnmatch(n, pattern)]`, but implemented more efficiently.

```python
import fnmatch
import os

files = ['script.py', 'data.csv', 'image.png', 'test.py']
py_files = fnmatch.filter(files, '*.py')

print(py_files)
# Output: ['script.py', 'test.py']
```

## Translating to Regex

### `translate()`

Return the shell-style pattern converted to a regular expression for using with `re.match()`.

```python
import fnmatch
import re

regex = fnmatch.translate('*.txt')
print(regex)
# Output (may vary slightly): (?s:.*\.txt)\Z

re_obj = re.compile(regex)
print(bool(re_obj.match('foobar.txt'))) # True
```

[[programming/python/python]]