Indeed, it does appear that the D modifier does what I want!

Thanks Alex, Bart, and Lawrence.

*Zach Riggle*


On Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 11:28 PM Lawrence Velázquez <larryv@zsh.org> wrote:

> On Sat, Nov 20, 2021, at 11:46 PM, Zach Riggle wrote:
> > I recently learned about GLOB_DOTS, which is pretty useful in some
> > scenarios, e.g.
> >
> >> echo *(md-1)
> >
> > To show all files modified within the last day.  However, in some cases
> > I want to see hidden files (e.g. ./.foo) as well.  The globdots option
> > is excellent for this!
> >
> > Is there an easy way to set this for a single expression?
>
> Yes, the "D" glob qualifier.
>
>     % touch {.,}{a..c}
>     % print -r -- *
>     a b c
>     % print -r -- *(D)
>     .a .b .c a b c
>
> > I know I can use a function / anonymous function combined with
> > LOCAL_OPTIONS to get this, but I wondered if there's something more
> > clever.
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > I expect that there's something I can do for scripts that I fully
> > control, to declare some function ('globdots') which is invoked with
> > noglob, and can then internally set the flag, and then trigger
> > expansion of each argument in "$@".
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > I can just invoke "eval" on something that I KNOW will be a glob
> > expression to get it to expand, but blindly calling eval will execute
> > things that are NOT glob expressions, and I only want filename
> > expansion.
> >
> > What I have found that DOES work (but overkill and a hack) is just to
> > shell out to zsh again, while passing in all options that are currently
> > set -- plus globdots.
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > Then there's also the issue of causing filename expansion to occur when
> > unintended -- for example, if '*' is indeed just a string argument, and
> > should not be subject to expansion.  I think this corner case I can
> > ignore, as any user will explicitly be asking for glob expansion.
>
> What verve!  Fortunately you don't have to do any of this :)
>
> > Finally, I wanted to say that I genuinely appreciate the help and
> > answers I've gotten from this community.  You're all very welcoming,
> > experienced, and get down to the point / answers quickly.
>
> On behalf of the actual helpful people, you're quite welcome.
>
> > If there's any way that I can help support Zsh development or the
> > community around it, please let me know.
>
> I think your using zsh is already quite supportive!
>
> --
> vq
>