Testing globs in ripgrep

test_ripgrep_glob.ps1

$string = 'Functions'

$result = foreach ($l in '','*','/','*/','**/') {
    foreach ($r in '','*','/','/*','/**') {
         $glob = "!${l}${string}${r}"
         $stat = Measure-Command { $list = rg --files -g "${glob}" }
         [pscustomobject]@{
             Glob = $glob
             Count = $list.Count
             ExecTimeMS = $stat.Milliseconds
         }
    }
}

$result | ft -AutoSize

Returns something that looks like this:

Glob             Count ExecTimeMS
----             ----- ----------
!Functions       24914        284
!Functions*      24476        273
!Functions/      24914        256
!Functions/*     24914        251
!Functions/**    24914        250
!*Functions      24476        278
!*Functions*     24013        250
!*Functions/     24476        252
!*Functions/*    24476        265
!*Functions/**   24476        264
!/Functions      24914        250
!/Functions*     24476        289
!/Functions/     24914        258
!/Functions/*    24914        279
!/Functions/**   24914        254
!*/Functions     25391        258
!*/Functions*    25391        263
!*/Functions/    25391        269
!*/Functions/*   25391        268
!*/Functions/**  25391        271
!**/Functions    24914        272
!**/Functions*   24476        244
!**/Functions/   24914        259
!**/Functions/*  24914        270
!**/Functions/** 24914        277

Keep in mind, this code includes * which means it will also do partial matches of a directory name. For example *Functions will also match with User Functions.

Typically the way I use this script is to first figure out manually how many files should be included in my search by simply selecting and deselecting the directories in Windows Explorer, then viewing properties to get the file count. Then I line that up with the results of this script.

Typically I only need to do this once or twice before I remember how ripgrep handles globs again...It's just not something I use every day, so I tend to forget 😂

In this particular case, I want to exclude the Functions directory but I have some directories that contain the string Functions that I want to include. The file count I'm looking for is 24914. So I'll then look for the simplest glob expression that has that file count, which in this case is simply !Functions

Things get a little more complicated if you want to exclude certain sub-folders, or certain file types under certain sub-folders, etc....For example, "exclude all txt files contained in log directories".