multimatch

What is multimatch?

The multimatch npm package allows for matching file paths against specified glob patterns. It is a wrapper around the 'minimatch' library, providing the ability to use multiple patterns at once for more complex matching scenarios. This can be particularly useful in build processes, file selection for operations like copying, deleting, or applying specific processing, and in any context where a list of files needs to be filtered based on flexible criteria.

What are multimatch's main functionalities?

Basic glob matching

This feature demonstrates basic usage of multimatch to filter an array of file paths based on a simple glob pattern. It's useful for selecting files of a specific type.

const multimatch = require('multimatch');
const paths = ['index.html', 'styles/main.css', 'scripts/app.js'];
const matched = multimatch(paths, '*.html');
console.log(matched); // ['index.html']

Multiple pattern matching

This feature shows how to use multimatch with multiple patterns to filter file paths. It's particularly useful when you need to select files that match any of several criteria.

const multimatch = require('multimatch');
const paths = ['index.html', 'styles/main.css', 'scripts/app.js', 'images/logo.png'];
const matched = multimatch(paths, ['*.css', '*.js']);
console.log(matched); // ['styles/main.css', 'scripts/app.js']

Exclusion patterns

This feature illustrates the use of exclusion patterns to filter out files that match a certain pattern. It's useful for excluding specific files or directories from a broader selection.

const multimatch = require('multimatch');
const paths = ['index.html', 'styles/main.css', 'scripts/app.js', 'test/app.test.js'];
const matched = multimatch(paths, ['*.js', '!test/*.js']);
console.log(matched); // ['scripts/app.js']

Other packages similar to multimatch

glob

The 'glob' package provides similar functionality for matching files using glob patterns. Unlike multimatch, glob interacts directly with the filesystem to filter files based on patterns. This makes it more suited for operations that require reading from or writing to the disk, but less convenient for filtering an existing list of file paths.

minimatch

The 'minimatch' package is the core matching library behind multimatch. It offers the fundamental functionality for pattern matching but does so on a one-pattern-at-a-time basis. Multimatch extends this by allowing multiple patterns to be used simultaneously, making it more convenient for complex matching scenarios.

README

multimatch

Adds multiple patterns support to minimatch.match()

Comparison

Minimatch:

minimatch.match(['unicorn', 'cake', 'rainbows'], '*corn');

Multimatch:

multimatch(['unicorn', 'cake', 'rainbows'], ['*corn', 'rain*']);

Install

Install with npm

npm install --save multimatch

Usage

var multimatch = require('multimatch');

multimatch(['unicorn', 'cake', 'rainbows'], ['!cake', '*corn']));
//=> ['unicorn', 'rainbows']

Patterns are additive while negations (eg ['foo', '!bar']) are based on the current set. Exception is if the first pattern is negation, then it will get the full set, so to match user expectation (eg. ['!foo'] will match everything except foo). Order matters.

See the tests for more usage examples and expected matches.

API

Same as multimatch.match() except for pattern also accepting an array.

License

MIT © Sindre Sorhus