element()

match(<list>, <pattern>[, <delimiter>])
matchall(<list>, <pattern>[, <delimiter>[, <output separator>]])

match() returns the index of the first element of <list> which matches the wildcard pattern <pattern>. The first word has an index of 1. If no matches are found, 0 is returned. element() is an alias for match().

matchall() is similar, but returns the indexes of all matching elements. If no elements match, an empty string is returned.

In both cases, elements of <list> are separated by <delimiter>, if it’s given, or a space otherwise. The results of matchall() are separated by <ouput separator>, if given, and <delimiter> if not.

To get the matching elements, instead of the indexes of where they appear in the list, use grab()/graball(). To see if a single string matches a wildcard pattern, use strmatch().

::: seealso

Wildcard examples

Examples:

say match(I am testing a test, test*)
You say, "3"

> say matchall(I am testing a test, test*)
You say, "3 5"

> say match(foo bar baz boing, sprocket)
You say, "0"

>say matchall(foo bar baz boing, sprocket)<br>
You say, ""