Define the word glob"glob" gcide "The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48"
glob \glob\ n.
1. a compact mass, especially of a semiliquid or viscous
substance; as, a glob of glue fell on my shoe.
Syn: ball, clod, lump, clump, chunk.
[WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
"glob" wn "WordNet (r) 2.0"
glob
n : a compact mass; "a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder"
[syn: ball, clod, lump, clump, chunk]
"glob" jargon "Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)"
glob /glob/, _not_ /glohb/ v.,n. [Unix; common] To expand special
characters in a wildcarded name, or the act of so doing (the action is
also called `globbing'). The Unix conventions for filename wildcarding
have become sufficiently pervasive that many hackers use some of them in
written English, especially in email or news on technical topics. Those
commonly encountered include the following:
*
wildcard for any string (see also UN*X)
?
wildcard for any single character (generally read this way
only at the beginning or in the middle of a word)
[]
delimits a wildcard matching any of the enclosed characters
{}
alternation of comma-separated alternatives; thus,
`foobaz,qux' would be read as `foobaz' or `fooqux'
Some examples: "He said his name was [KC]arl" (expresses ambiguity).
"I don't read talk.politics.*" (any of the talk.politics subgroups on
Usenet). Other examples are given under the entry for X. Note that
glob patterns are similar, but not identical, to those used in
regexps.
Historical note: The jargon usage derives from `glob', the name of a
subprogram that expanded wildcards in archaic pre-Bourne versions of the
Unix shell.
"glob" foldoc "The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)"
glob
/glob/, *not* /glohb/ To expand wild card characters in a
path name.
In Unix the file name wild cards are:
* = zero or more characters (E.g. UN*X)
? = any single character
[] any of the enclosed characters
{} indicate alternation of comma-separated alternatives, thus
foobaz,qux would expand to "foobaz" or "fooqux". This
syntax generates a list of all possible expansions, rather
than matching one.
These have become sufficiently pervasive that hackers use them
in written English, especially in electronic mail or
Usenet news on technical topics. E.g. "He said his name was
[KC]arl" (expresses ambiguity). "I don't read
talk.politics.*" (any of the talk.politics subgroups on
Usenet). Other examples are given under the entry for X.
Note that glob patterns are similar, but not identical, to
those used in regexps.
"glob" was a subprogram that expanded wild cards in archaic
pre-Bourne versions of the Unix shell.
(1997-07-16)
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