# File Name Glob Patterns


A [glob pattern][glob] is a text expression that matches one or more
file names using wild cards familiar to most users of a command line.
For example, `*` is a glob that matches any name at all and
`Readme.txt` is a glob that matches exactly one file. For purposes of
Fossil's globs, a file name with a directory prefix is "just a string"
and the globs do not apply any special meaning to the directory part
of the name. Thus the glob `*` matches any name, including any
directory prefix, and `*/*` matches a name with _one or more_
directory components.

A glob should not be confused with a [regular expression][regexp] (RE),
even though they use some of the same special characters for similar
purposes, because [they are not fully compatible][greinc] pattern
matching languages. Fossil uses globs when matching file names with the
settings described in this document, not REs.