{"id":27973,"date":"2023-09-24T14:23:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T08:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pythonpool.com\/?p=27973"},"modified":"2026-07-13T12:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T07:13:21","slug":"python-fnmatch-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pythonpool.com\/python-fnmatch-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Python fnmatch: Match Filenames with Wildcards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quick answer:<\/strong> The fnmatch module matches strings against shell-style wildcard patterns. Use * for any sequence, ? for one character, and bracket expressions for character classes. fnmatch is useful for a list of names, but it is not a complete recursive path policy, so choose pathlib, glob, or os.walk when directory traversal matters.<\/p>\n

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fnmatch applies shell-style filename patterns such as *.py and report-??.csv; choose the matching function and path scope deliberately.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Python fnmatch<\/code> library matches strings against Unix shell-style wildcard patterns. It is useful when you already have file names, user-supplied names, or directory entries and want to check whether each one fits a simple pattern. The official Python fnmatch documentation<\/a> describes these rules as shell-style wildcards, not full regular expressions.<\/p>\n

The key point is that fnmatch<\/code> matches names; it does not walk directories by itself. Use os.listdir()<\/code>, pathlib<\/code>, or glob<\/code> to collect paths, then use fnmatch<\/code> when you need direct pattern checks on those names. For directory basics, see the Python current directory guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The common wildcard characters are *<\/code> for any sequence, ?<\/code> for one character, [abc]<\/code> for one allowed character, and [!abc]<\/code> for one excluded character. These patterns are intentionally small and readable. If you need advanced text matching, translate the pattern or use re<\/code> directly.<\/p>\n

Use these patterns for file names and simple labels, not for parsing structured text. That keeps the rule obvious to the next reader and avoids turning a small wildcard check into a hidden validation system.<\/p>\n

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