NAME
    Regexp::Wildcards - Converts wildcards expressions to Perl regular
    expressions.

VERSION
    Version 0.02

SYNOPSIS
        use Regexp::Wildcards qw/wc2re/;

        my $re;
        $re = wc2re 'a{b.,c}*' => 'unix';   # Do it Unix style.
        $re = wc2re 'a.,b*'    => 'win32';  # Do it Windows style.
        $re = wc2re '*{x,y}.'  => 'jokers'; # Process the jokers & escape the rest.

DESCRIPTION
    In many situations, users may want to specify patterns to match but
    don't need the full power of regexps. Wildcards make one of those sets
    of simplified rules. This module converts wildcards expressions to Perl
    regular expressions, so that you can use them for matching. It handles
    the "*" and "?" jokers, as well as Unix bracketed alternatives "{,}",
    and uses the backspace ("\") as an escape character. Wrappers are
    provided to mimic the behaviour of Windows and Unix shells.

EXPORT
    Four functions are exported only on request : "wc2re", "wc2re_unix",
    "wc2re_win32" and "wc2re_jokers".

FUNCTIONS
  "wc2re_unix"
    This function takes as its only argument the wildcard string to process,
    and returns the corresponding regular expression according to standard
    Unix wildcard rules. It successively escapes all unprotected regexp
    special characters that doesn't hold any meaning for wildcards, turns
    jokers into their regexp equivalents, and changes bracketed blocks into
    "(?:|)" alternations. If brackets are unbalanced, it will try to
    substitute as many of them as possible, and then escape the remaining
    "{" and "}". Commas outside of any bracket-delimited block will also be
    escaped.

        # This is a valid brackets expression which is correctly handled.
        print 'ok' if wc2re_unix('{a{b,c}d,e}') eq '(?:a(?:b|c)d|e)';

    Unbalanced bracket expressions can always be rescued, but it may change
    completely its meaning. For example :

        # The first comma is replaced, and the remaining brackets and comma are
        # escaped.
        print 'ok' if wc2re_unix('{a\\{b,c}d,e}') eq '(?:a\\{b|c)d\\,e\\}';

        # All the brackets and commas are escaped.
        print 'ok' if wc2re_unix('{a{b,c\\}d,e}') eq '\\{a\\{b\\,c\\}d\\,e\\}';

  "wc2re_win32"
    Similar to the precedent, but for Windows wildcards. Bracketed blocks
    are no longer handled (which means that brackets will be escaped), but
    you can provide a comma-separated list of items.

        # All the brackets are escaped, and commas are seen as list delimiters.
        print 'ok' if wc2re_win32('{a{b,c}d,e}') eq '(?:\\{a\\{b|c\\}d|e\\})';

  "wc2re_jokers"
    This one only handles the "?" and "*" jokers. All other unquoted regexp
    metacharacters will be escaped.

        # Everything is escaped.
        print 'ok' if wc2re_jokers('{a{b,c}d,e}') eq '\\{a\\{b\\,c\\}d\\,e\\}';

  "wc2re"
    A generic function that wraps around all the different rules. The first
    argument is the wildcard expression, and the second one is the type of
    rules to apply, currently either "unix", "win32" or "jokers". If the
    type is undefined, it defaults to "unix".

DEPENDENCIES
    Text::Balanced, which is bundled with perl since version 5.7.3

SEE ALSO
    Some modules provide incomplete alternatives as helper functions :

    Net::FTPServer has a method for that. Only jokers are translated, and
    escaping won't preserve them.

    File::Find::Match::Util has a "wildcar" function that compiles a
    matcher. Only handles "*".

    Text::Buffer has the "convertWildcardToRegex" class method that handles
    jokers.

AUTHOR
    Vincent Pit, "<perl at profvince.com>"

BUGS
    Please report any bugs or feature requests to "bug-regexp-wildcards at
    rt.cpan.org", or through the web interface at
    <http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Regexp-Wildcards>. I
    will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress
    on your bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT
    You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

        perldoc Regexp::Wildcards

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
    Copyright 2007 Vincent Pit, all rights reserved.

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

