Matching of wild card patterns to wild card strings associated with named computer objects
First Claim
1. A method of comparing first and second character strings associated with computer objects residing in a computer system, wherein the computer objects are selected from the group consisting of computer devices, directories, sub-directories, files, and symbolic links, each of the character strings having at least one wild card character, comprising the step of determining whether the first character string defines a first group of computer objects which is a logical subset of a second group of computer objects defined by the second character string.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
method of matching computer wild card patterns involves comparing first and second character strings associated with named objects residing on a computer system to determine whether the first character string defines a first group of computer objects which is a logical subset of a second group of computer objects defined by the second character string. The first character string is provided by a user; such as in a command line, and the second character string is pre-defined, such as by a network administrator. The method can be performed by examining whether the second character string has any wild card character which can substitute for one and only one character, or by examining whether the second character string has any wild card character which can substitute for any number of characters, including no characters (a universal character). The second character string can further be examined to see if it contains any embedded sequence of characters having no universal wild card character.
41 Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A method of comparing first and second character strings associated with computer objects residing in a computer system, wherein the computer objects are selected from the group consisting of computer devices, directories, sub-directories, files, and symbolic links, each of the character strings having at least one wild card character, comprising the step of determining whether the first character string defines a first group of computer objects which is a logical subset of a second group of computer objects defined by the second character string.
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11. A computer system comprising:
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a processor; a plurality of computer objects residing on one or more devices connected to said processor, said computer objects each having a unique name; and memory means connected to said processor for storing program instructions to determine whether a first character string, which has at least one wild card character and defines a first group of names associated with said computer objects, is a logical subset of a second character string which also has at least one wild card character and defines a second group of names associated with said computer objects. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification