matching languages. Fossil uses globs when matching file names with the
settings described in this document, not REs.

[glob]:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_(programming)
[greinc]: https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/57958/138
[regexp]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression

[Fossil’s `*-glob` settings](#settings) hold one or more patterns to cause Fossil to
give matching named files special treatment.  Glob patterns are also
accepted in options to certain commands and as query parameters to
certain Fossil UI web pages. For consistency, settings such as
`empty-dirs` are parsed as a glob even though they aren’t then *applied*
as a glob since it allows [the same syntax rules](#syntax) to apply.

Where Fossil also accepts globs in commands, this handling may interact

:Pattern     |:Effect
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`README`     | Matches only a file named `README` in the root of the tree. It does not match a file named `src/README` because it does not include any characters that consume (and match) the `src/` part.
`*/README`   | Matches `src/README`. Unlike Unix file globs, it also matches `src/library/README`. However it does not match the file `README` in the root of the tree.
`*README`    | Matches `src/README` as well as the file `README` in the root of the tree as well as `foo/bar/README` or any other file named `README` in the tree. However, it also matches `A-DIFFERENT-README` and `src/DO-NOT-README`, or any other file whose name ends with `README`.
`src/README` | Matches `src\README` on Windows because all directory separators are rewritten as `/` in the canonical name before the glob is matched. This makes it much easier to write globs that work on both Unix and Windows.
`*.[ch]`     | Matches every C source or header file in the tree at the root or at any depth. Again, this is (deliberately) different from Unix file globs and Windows wild cards.


## Where Globs are Used

### <a id="settings"></a>Settings that are Globs

These settings are all lists of glob patterns:

:Setting        |:Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
`binary-glob`   | Files that should be treated as binary files for committing and merging purposes
`clean-glob`    | Files that the [`clean`][] command will delete without prompting or allowing undo

The `ignore-glob` is an example of one setting that frequently grows
to be an elaborate list of files that should be ignored by most
commands. This is especially true when one (or more) IDEs are used in
a project because each IDE has its own ideas of how and where to cache
information that speeds up its browsing and building tasks but which
need not be preserved in your project's history.

Although the `empty-dirs` setting is not a list of glob patterns as
such, it is *parsed* that way for consistency among the settings,
allowing [the list parsing rules above](#syntax) to apply.


### <a id="commands"></a>Commands that Refer to Globs

Many of the commands that respect the settings containing globs have
options to override some or all of the settings. These options are
usually named to correspond to the setting they override, such as
`--ignore` to override the `ignore-glob` setting. These commands are:

 *  [`add`][]

than archiving the entire checkin.

The commands [`http`][], [`cgi`][], [`server`][], and [`ui`][] that
implement or support with web servers provide a mechanism to name some
files to serve with static content where a list of glob patterns
specifies what content may be served.

[`add`]:       /help?cmd=add
[`addremove`]: /help?cmd=addremove
[`changes`]:   /help?cmd=changes
[`clean`]:     /help?cmd=clean
[`commit`]:    /help?cmd=commit
[`extras`]:    /help?cmd=extras
[`merge`]:     /help?cmd=merge
[`settings`]:  /help?cmd=settings
[`status`]:    /help?cmd=status
[`touch`]:     /help?cmd=touch
[`unset`]:     /help?cmd=unset

[`tarball`]:   /help?cmd=tarball
[`zip`]:       /help?cmd=zip

[`http`]:      /help?cmd=http
[`cgi`]:       /help?cmd=cgi
[`server`]:    /help?cmd=server
[`ui`]:        /help?cmd=ui


### Web Pages that Refer to Globs

The [`/timeline`][] page supports the query parameter `chng=GLOBLIST` that
names a list of glob patterns defining which files to focus the
timeline on. It also has the query parameters `t=TAG` and `r=TAG` that
names a tag to focus on, which can be configured with `ms=STYLE` to
use a glob pattern to match tag names instead of the default exact
match or a couple of other comparison styles.

The pages [`/tarball`][] and [`/zip`][] generate compressed archives
of a specific checkin. They may be further restricted by query
parameters that specify glob patterns that name files to include or
exclude rather than taking the entire checkin.

[`/timeline`]: /help?cmd=/timeline
[`/tarball`]:  /help?cmd=/tarball
[`/zip`]:      /help?cmd=/zip


## Platform Quirks

Fossil glob patterns are based on the glob pattern feature of POSIX
shells. Fossil glob patterns also have a quoting mechanism, discussed
above. Because other parts of your operating system may interpret glob