# PatternElement type

The PatternElement type defines single string pattern for file/ directory matching.

The defining Java class is `net.brutex.xservices.types.PatternElement` .

These patterns look exactly like those used in Apache Ant Patterns. The '*' matches zero or more characters and the '?' will match a single character. Both symbols can be combined in one pattern. The '**' symbol can be used to match any directory deepth.

Some example patterns:

`**/mydir/**`

Match all file that are located in any directory that has "mydir" string in its pathname. Also applies to files with "mydir" in their name.

`/mydir/`

The parser will automatically append an '**' symbol, thus the resulting pattern is `/mydir/**`. All files below the "/mydir/" directory (including its sub-directories will be chosen.

The pattern is OS independent. You should always use "/" as path separator, even on windows based systems.

Schema definition

    <xs:simpleType name="patternElement">
        <xs:restriction base="xs:string"/>
    </xs:simpleType>

Example XML

    <PatternElement>**/*</PatternElement>