How to implement glob in C#

 /// <summary> /// return a list of files that matches some wildcard pattern, e.g. /// C:\p4\software\dotnet\tools\*\*.sln to get all tool solution files /// </summary> /// <param name="glob">pattern to match</param> /// <returns>all matching paths</returns> public static IEnumerable<string> Glob(string glob) { foreach (string path in Glob(PathHead(glob) + DirSep, PathTail(glob))) yield return path; } /// <summary> /// uses 'head' and 'tail' -- 'head' has already been pattern-expanded /// and 'tail' has not. /// </summary> /// <param name="head">wildcard-expanded</param> /// <param name="tail">not yet wildcard-expanded</param> /// <returns></returns> public static IEnumerable<string> Glob(string head, string tail) { if (PathTail(tail) == tail) foreach (string path in Directory.GetFiles(head, tail).OrderBy(s => s)) yield return path; else foreach (string dir in Directory.GetDirectories(head, PathHead(tail)).OrderBy(s => s)) foreach (string path in Glob(Path.Combine(head, dir), PathTail(tail))) yield return path; } /// <summary> /// shortcut /// </summary> static char DirSep = Path.DirectorySeparatorChar; /// <summary> /// return the first element of a file path /// </summary> /// <param name="path">file path</param> /// <returns>first logical unit</returns> static string PathHead(string path) { // handle case of \\share\vol\foo\bar -- return \\share\vol as 'head' // because the dir stuff won't let you interrogate a server for its share list // FIXME check behavior on Linux to see if this blows up -- I don't think so if (path.StartsWith("" + DirSep + DirSep)) return path.Substring(0, 2) + path.Substring(2).Split(DirSep)[0] + DirSep + path.Substring(2).Split(DirSep)[1]; return path.Split(DirSep)[0]; } /// <summary> /// return everything but the first element of a file path /// e.g. PathTail("C:\TEMP\foo.txt") = "TEMP\foo.txt" /// </summary> /// <param name="path">file path</param> /// <returns>all but the first logical unit</returns> static string PathTail(string path) { if (!path.Contains(DirSep)) return path; return path.Substring(1 + PathHead(path).Length); } 

You can use the "dir" (aka "Get-ChildItem") powershell cmdlet from C#.
(I'm not saying whether you should.)

You have to add this reference to your project file (".csproj" or ".vcproj") manually:

<Reference Include="System.Management.Automation" /> 

See here for more details on how to use cmdlets from C#: http://www.devx.com/tips/Tip/42716

Here a working program:

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Management.Automation; using System.Management.Automation.Runspaces; using System.Collections.ObjectModel; namespace CsWildcard { class Program { static IEnumerable<string> CmdletDirGlobbing(string basePath, string glob){ Runspace runspace = RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace(); runspace.Open(); // cd to basePath if(basePath != null){ Pipeline cdPipeline = runspace.CreatePipeline(); Command cdCommand = new Command("cd"); cdCommand.Parameters.Add("Path", basePath); cdPipeline.Commands.Add(cdCommand); cdPipeline.Invoke(); // run the cmdlet } // run the "dir" cmdlet (e.g. "dir C:\*\*\*.txt" ) Pipeline dirPipeline = runspace.CreatePipeline(); Command dirCommand = new Command("dir"); dirCommand.Parameters.Add("Path", glob); dirPipeline.Commands.Add(dirCommand); Collection<PSObject> dirOutput = dirPipeline.Invoke(); // for each found file foreach (PSObject psObject in dirOutput) { PSMemberInfoCollection<PSPropertyInfo> a = psObject.Properties; // look for the full path ("FullName") foreach (PSPropertyInfo psPropertyInfo in psObject.Properties) { if (psPropertyInfo.Name == "FullName") { yield return psPropertyInfo.Value.ToString(); // yield it } } } } static void Main(string[] args) { foreach(string path in CmdletDirGlobbing(null,"C:\\*\\*\\*.txt")){ System.Console.WriteLine(path); } foreach (string path in CmdletDirGlobbing("C:\\", "*\\*\\*.exe")) { System.Console.WriteLine(path); } Console.ReadKey(); } } } 

It is easy to implement with DotNet.Glob

Example:

public static class Glob { public static IEnumerable<FileInfo> Exec(DirectoryInfo dir, string glob) { var matcher = DotNet.Globbing.Glob.Parse(glob); return dir.EnumerateAllFiles() .Where(f => matcher.IsMatch(f.FullName)); } public static IEnumerable<FileInfo> EnumerateAllFiles(this DirectoryInfo dir) { foreach(var f in dir.EnumerateFiles()) { yield return f; } foreach(var sub in dir.EnumerateDirectories()) { foreach(var f in EnumerateAllFiles(sub)) { yield return f; } } } }