Wildcards are place holders used to allow users to search for or use multiple files with similar names. The subject of wildcards is part of the larger subject of regular expressions in linux. Two of the most common wildcards are "*" and "?".
The asterisk, "*", represents any character or string of characters. The entry a*.txt could refer to apple.txt as well as array.txt.
The question mark represents a single character. The entry a?.txt could refer to ab.txt and ab.txt, but not array.txt.
For example, to find a file called "sneaksomething.txt," enter:
ls sneak*.txt
The linux shell lists every file that matches that pattern:
sneakers.txt
Regular expressions are more complex than the straightforward asterisk or question mark.
Here are wildcards and regular expressions:
* — Matches all characters
? — Matches one character
\* — Matches the * character
\? — Matches the ? character
\) — Matches the ) character
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