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From: mat@mole-end.UUCP (Mark A Terribile)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: wildcard matching
Summary: ... 498. UNIX ain't DOS.  499. UNIX ain't DOS.  500. UNIX ain't DOS.
Message-ID: <462@mole-end.UUCP>
Date: 1 Jan 91 03:34:42 GMT
References: <4739.277BA2FB@urchin.fidonet.org>
Organization: mole-end--private system.  admin: mole-end!newtnews
Lines: 21

(On the subject of wildcard patterns whose match is pathalogical in time ...)

> I think that the recursive call is unnessicary.  Consider that anything
> trailing the '*' character is ignored anyway, at least in MS-DOS, and
> OS/2. What need is there for further checking if a '*' character is
> encountered?  Does that hold true in the UNIX would too?

In UNIX, the `*' is NOT limited to matching a whole name component, but
instead any sequence of characters, anywhere.  Thus, one can write

	a*b*c

If you want to guarantee efficient matching, then I think you have to generate
a DFSA.  If you want to come close, you can put some pathology checks in your
code (like `*' after `*').  And there are publicly available regex-like
matchers, most of which will want .* for a closure on an arbitrary character.
Some of them might not be too hard to change.
-- 

 (This man's opinions are his own.)
 From mole-end				Mark Terribile