[alternative found] Can this Bash regex be stated more slickly?

ninian · 2014-05-11 18:11:55

I need to match the following four patterns of a filename (a,b,c,d are arbitrary characters; . X and ext are literal characters) in a Bash script, and here's the regex which works for me:

file='ab.'
file='ab.Xcd'
file='ab.ext'
file='ab.extXcd'

[[ $file =~ (\.$|\.X|\.ext$|\.extX) ]] && echo matches

What I wonder is whether this can be stated more succinctly using () grouping and a repetition operator such as * ? +
I tried a few possibilities but the only expression I could get working right was the one above.
Any help gratefully received!

Last edited by ninian (2014-05-11 20:00:37)

falconindy · 2014-05-11 18:50:25

Well, I wouldn't use regex here.

[[ $file = *.?(ext)?(X??) ]] && echo "$file matches"

ninian · 2014-05-11 19:59:35

falconindy wrote:

Well, I wouldn't use regex here.
[[ $file = *.?(ext)?(X??) ]] && echo "$file matches"

Aha - thank you very much - seems to do the trick, and more understandable too.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-05-11 18:11:55

[alternative found] Can this Bash regex be stated more slickly?

#2 2014-05-11 18:50:25

Re: [alternative found] Can this Bash regex be stated more slickly?

#3 2014-05-11 19:59:35

Re: [alternative found] Can this Bash regex be stated more slickly?

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