(C#) Find ZIP Entries Matching a Wildcard Pattern Using EntryMatching

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This example demonstrates how to use the EntryMatching method to find ZIP entries whose stored paths match a wildcard pattern.

The wildcard character * matches zero or more characters. The comparison is performed against the full stored path within the ZIP archive.

This method is useful for:

• Finding files having a particular extension
• Locating files within specific subdirectories
• Searching ZIP archives without manually iterating through every entry

Suppose the ZIP archive contains:

docs/
docs/readme.txt
docs/manual.pdf
images/logo.png
images/banner.jpg
data/config/settings.json

Notice that the ZIP archive contains an explicit directory entry named docs/. ZIP archives may optionally contain separate directory entries in addition to file entries.

When searching with the pattern docs/*, the first matching entry could therefore be the directory entry docs/ rather than a file contained within that directory.

The example searches for:

• The first .png file
• The first entry beneath the docs directory
• The first JSON file anywhere within the ZIP archive

Note: This example requires Chilkat v11.0.0 or greater.

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bool success = false;

success = false;

// Open an existing ZIP archive.
Chilkat.Zip zip = new Chilkat.Zip();

success = zip.OpenZip("example.zip");
if (success == false) {
    Debug.WriteLine(zip.LastErrorText);
    return;
}

Chilkat.ZipEntry entry = new Chilkat.ZipEntry();

// ------------------------------------------------------------
// Find the first .png file in the ZIP archive.

success = zip.EntryMatching("*.png",entry);

if (success == true) {
    Debug.WriteLine("Found PNG file:");
    Debug.WriteLine("  " + entry.FileName);
    Debug.WriteLine("");
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------
// Find the first entry beneath the docs directory.
// 
// Note: ZIP archives may optionally contain explicit directory
// entries such as "docs/" in addition to file entries.
// Therefore, the first matching entry could be the directory
// itself rather than a file contained within the directory.

success = zip.EntryMatching("docs/*",entry);

if (success == true) {
    Debug.WriteLine("First matching docs entry:");
    Debug.WriteLine("  " + entry.FileName);
    Debug.WriteLine("  IsDirectory = " + Convert.ToString(entry.IsDirectory));
    Debug.WriteLine("");
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------
// Find the first JSON file anywhere in the ZIP archive.

success = zip.EntryMatching("*.json",entry);

if (success == true) {
    Debug.WriteLine("Found JSON file:");
    Debug.WriteLine("  " + entry.FileName);
    Debug.WriteLine("");
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------
// The matching is performed against the full stored ZIP path.
// For example:
// 
//     docs/readme.txt
//     images/logo.png
//     data/config/settings.json
// 
// The wildcard '*' matches zero or more characters.

zip.CloseZip();

Debug.WriteLine("Done.");