.TH pattern "" "" Definition
.PC
.PP
.II "regular expression"
A
.B pattern
is any combination of text and wildcard characters
that can be interpreted by a command.
Patterns are also called ``regular expressions''.
.PP
The function
.B pnmatch()
compares two patterns and indicates whether they match.
.PP
For a fuller explanation of how to use patterns within applications,
see the section on \fIExpert Editing\fR in the tutorial for the
line editor \fBed\fR.
.SH "See Also"
.Xr "egrep," egrep
.Xr "pnmatch()," pnmatch
.Xr "Programming COHERENT," programmi
.Xr "wildcards" wildcards
