Zsh functions for non-greedy matching

smatch.zsh

# Usage:
# if .smatch "axx" "a*x"; then
#     print $REPLY
# fi
# Output:
# ax
# The parameters $match, etc. are also normally available
.smatch() {
    local str="$1" pat="$2" retval=1
    match=()
    : ${(S)str/(#b)(${~pat})/${retval::=0}}
    REPLY="${match[1]}"
    return $retval
}

# Usage:
# arr=( a1xx ayy a2xx )
# if .smatches ${arr[@]} "a*x"; then
#     print -rl $reply
# fi
# Output:
# a1x
# a2x
.smatches() {
    local pat="${@[${#}]}" retval=1
    local -a input
    input=( "${@[1,${#}-1]}" ) reply=() match=()
    : "${(S)input[@]//(#b)(${~pat})/${reply[${#reply}+1]::=${match[1]}}${retval::=0}}"
    REPLY="${match[1]}"
    return $retval
}