Glob

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  glob \glob\ n.
     1. a compact mass, especially of a semiliquid or viscous
        substance; as, a glob of glue fell on my shoe.
  
     Syn: ball, clod, lump, clump, chunk.
          [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  glob
       n : a compact mass; "a ball of mud caught him on the shoulder"
           [syn: {ball}, {clod}, {lump}, {clump}, {chunk}]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  glob /glob/, _not_ /glohb/ v.,n. [Unix; common] To expand special
     characters in a wildcarded name, or the act of so doing (the action is
     also called `globbing'). The Unix conventions for filename wildcarding
     have become sufficiently pervasive that many hackers use some of them in
     written English, especially in email or news on technical topics. Those
     commonly encountered include the following:
  
   *
         wildcard for any string (see also {UN*X})
    
   ?
         wildcard for any single character (generally read this way
         only at the beginning or in the middle of a word)
    
   []
         delimits a wildcard matching any of the enclosed characters
    
   {}
         alternation of comma-separated alternatives; thus,
         `foo{baz,qux}' would be read as `foobaz' or `fooqux'
    
     Some examples: "He said his name was [KC]arl" (expresses ambiguity).
     "I don't read talk.politics.*" (any of the talk.politics subgroups on
     {Usenet}). Other examples are given under the entry for {X}. Note that
     glob patterns are similar, but not identical, to those used in
     {regexp}s.
  
     Historical note: The jargon usage derives from `glob', the name of a
     subprogram that expanded wildcards in archaic pre-Bourne versions of the
     Unix shell.
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  glob
       
          /glob/, *not* /glohb/ To expand {wild card} characters in a
          {path name}.
       
          In {Unix} the {file name} wild cards are:
       
           * = zero or more characters (E.g. {UN*X})
       
           ? = any single character
       
           [] any of the enclosed characters
       
           {} indicate alternation of comma-separated alternatives, thus
           foo{baz,qux} would expand to "foobaz" or "fooqux".  This
           syntax generates a list of all possible expansions, rather
           than matching one.
       
          These have become sufficiently pervasive that hackers use them
          in written English, especially in {electronic mail} or
          {Usenet} news on technical topics.  E.g. "He said his name was
          [KC]arl" (expresses ambiguity).  "I don't read
          talk.politics.*" (any of the talk.politics subgroups on
          {Usenet}).  Other examples are given under the entry for {X}.
          Note that glob patterns are similar, but not identical, to
          those used in {regexps}.
       
          "glob" was a subprogram that expanded wild cards in archaic
          pre-{Bourne} versions of the {Unix} {shell}.
       
          (1997-07-16)