PatternMatcher (Apache Ivy™)

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractPatternMatcher, ExactOrRegexpPatternMatcher, ExactPatternMatcher, GlobPatternMatcher, RegexpPatternMatcher
```
public interface PatternMatcher
```
Interface for a pattern matcher.
The pattern matcher is the main abstraction regarding the matching of an expression. Implementation may vary depending on the expression syntax handling that is desired.

Field Summary

Fields
Modifier and Type	Field	Description
`static java.lang.String`	`ANY_EXPRESSION`	Any expression string: '*'
`static java.lang.String`	`EXACT`	'exact' pattern matcher name
`static java.lang.String`	`EXACT_OR_REGEXP`	pattern matcher name 'exactOrRegexp'
`static java.lang.String`	`GLOB`	pattern matcher 'glob'
`static java.lang.String`	`REGEXP`	pattern matcher name 'regexp'

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`Matcher`	`getMatcher(java.lang.String expression)`	Return the matcher for the given expression.
`java.lang.String`	`getName()`	return the name of this pattern matcher

- Field Detail
  - EXACT
```
static final java.lang.String EXACT
```
    'exact' pattern matcher name
    
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
  - REGEXP
```
static final java.lang.String REGEXP
```
    pattern matcher name 'regexp'
    
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
  - GLOB
```
static final java.lang.String GLOB
```
    pattern matcher 'glob'
    
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
  - EXACT_OR_REGEXP
```
static final java.lang.String EXACT_OR_REGEXP
```
    pattern matcher name 'exactOrRegexp'
    
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
  - ANY_EXPRESSION
```
static final java.lang.String ANY_EXPRESSION
```
    Any expression string: '*'
    
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
- Method Detail
  - getMatcher
```
Matcher getMatcher(java.lang.String expression)
```
    Return the matcher for the given expression.
    
    Parameters:
    
    expression - the expression to be matched. Cannot be null ?
    
    Returns:
    
    the matcher instance for the given expression. Never null.
  - getName
```
java.lang.String getName()
```
    return the name of this pattern matcher
    
    Returns:
    
    the name of this pattern matcher. Never null.
    
    See Also:
    
    EXACT, REGEXP, GLOB, EXACT_OR_REGEXP