in reply to using wildcard character * in perlscript command line

glob applied to @ARGV in a BEGIN block gives a reasonable approximation. 

perl -wle"BEGIN{ @ARGV = map glob, @ARGV } print for @ARGV" *

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Re^2: using wildcard character * in perlscript command line
by holli (Abbot) on Jan 28, 2005 at 15:41 UTC
    I looked at this and thought, "no way, what if the script gets switches or other arguments that are not files (like script * -option), those arguments will get lost because they donīt match any filename.
    But they donīt. Can you explain why?

    holli, regexed monk
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      Because glob() will simply pass-thru anything that doesn't need expansion, otherwise it would lose ordinary filenames. But if the 'option' might have the expandable characters '*' or '?' you will be in danger of losing _those_ options. glob('-f?') returns nothing (usually), though glob('-f') will simply return '-f'.
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      If the value passed to glob doesn't contain a wildcard, it is passed through untouched. 

      P:\test>perl -wle" print for glob '-debug' "
-debug

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      As for the why, if there is no file of that name existing, you'll need someone with the historical perspective (merlyn?).

      Maybe, just so that it doesn't affect non-wildcard parameters?

      Examine what is said, not who speaks.
      Silence betokens consent.
      Love the truth but pardon error.
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[d/l]

      Perl's glob was originally implemented in terms of csh's. From man csh:

      If a word contains any of the characters *, ?, [ or { or begins with the character ~ it is a candidate for filename substitution, also known as globbing.

      If you use the bsdglob function from File::Glob (which is how glob is implemented nowadays), you can pick behaviour as desired.

      Makeshifts last the longest.

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      For the same reason for which (depending on an option, really) *NIX shells (well, at least bash that I know) pass through any unmatched item.
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