# File::Glob

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POSIX pathname globbing — expand shell-style wildcard patterns into lists of filenames. `File::Glob` is what backs Perl’s built-in `glob` operator and its angle-bracket form `<*.pl>`. Give it a pattern with shell metacharacters (`*`, `?`, `[...]`, `{a,b,c}`, `~user`) and you get back the list of paths on disk that match. The same machinery is exposed directly as `bsd_glob` when you want explicit control over flags. The mental model is simple: a pattern goes in, a list of real filenames comes out. Behaviour is tuned by a bitmask of `GLOB_*` flags — tilde expansion, brace expansion, case folding, sort order, and what happens when nothing matches are all flag-controlled. Every flag has a named constant (`GLOB_TILDE`, `GLOB_BRACE`, `GLOB_NOCASE`, `GLOB_NOMAGIC`, `GLOB_CSH`, etc.) and they OR together. Three call styles, same engine: ```perl use File::Glob ':bsd_glob'; my @pl = <*.pl>; # angle-bracket form my @c = bsd_glob('*.[ch]'); # function form, default flags my @hd = bsd_glob('~gnat', GLOB_TILDE | GLOB_ERR); ``` The default flag set is `GLOB_CSH` — brace expansion, tilde expansion, backslash quoting, alphabetical sort, and the `GLOB_NOMAGIC` fallback that returns the literal pattern when it has no metacharacters and doesn’t match. Two import tags nudge the default: `:nocase` turns `GLOB_NOCASE` on globally, `:case` turns it off. ## Functions ### Globbing #### [`bsd_glob`](Glob/bsd_glob.md) Expand a shell-style pattern and return the list of matching paths. #### [`csh_glob`](Glob/csh_glob.md) Expand a pattern using the default flag set — the engine behind Perl’s built-in `glob`. #### [`glob_error`](Glob/glob_error.md) Report the error status of the most recent `bsd_glob` call.