Re: [PATCH] get_maintainer: add ** globstar pattern support

[Joe Perches]

On Mon, 2026-03-02 at 03:53 +0100, Matteo Croce wrote:
> Add support for the ** globstar operator in MAINTAINERS F: and X: patterns,
> matching any number of path components (like Python's ** glob).
> 
> The existing * to .* conversion with slash-count check is preserved.
> ** is converted to (?:.*), a non-capturing group used as a marker to
> bypass the slash-count check in file_match_pattern(), allowing the
> pattern to cross directory boundaries.
> 
> Tested by running `scripts/get_maintainer.pl --self-test=patterns`
> with the following line added to MAINTAINERS:
> 
>     F: **/*[_-]kunit*.c
> 
> Signed-off-by: Matteo Croce <[teknoraver@xxxxxxxx](mailto:teknoraver@xxxxxxxx)>

Simpler, thanks.

Acked-by: Joe Perches <joe@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> ---
>  scripts/get_maintainer.pl | 9 +++++++--
>  1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
> index 4414194bedcf..f0ca0db6ddc2 100755
> --- a/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
> +++ b/scripts/get_maintainer.pl
> @@ -375,8 +375,10 @@ sub read_maintainer_file {
>  	    ##Filename pattern matching
>  	    if ($type eq "F" || $type eq "X") {
>  		$value =~ s@\.@\\\.@g;       ##Convert . to \.
> +		$value =~ s/\*\*/\x00/g;     ##Convert ** to placeholder
>  		$value =~ s/\*/\.\*/g;       ##Convert * to .*
>  		$value =~ s/\?/\./g;         ##Convert ? to .
> +		$value =~ s/\x00/(?:.*)/g;   ##Convert placeholder to (?:.*)
>  		##if pattern is a directory and it lacks a trailing slash, add one
>  		if ((-d $value)) {
>  		    $value =~ s@([^/])$@$1/@;
> @@ -746,8 +748,10 @@ sub self_test {
>  	if (($type eq "F" || $type eq "X") &&
>  	    ($self_test eq "" || $self_test =~ /\bpatterns\b/)) {
>  	    $value =~ s@\.@\\\.@g;       ##Convert . to \.
> +	    $value =~ s/\*\*/\x00/g;     ##Convert ** to placeholder
>  	    $value =~ s/\*/\.\*/g;       ##Convert * to .*
>  	    $value =~ s/\?/\./g;         ##Convert ? to .
> +	    $value =~ s/\x00/(?:.*)/g;   ##Convert placeholder to (?:.*)
>  	    ##if pattern is a directory and it lacks a trailing slash, add one
>  	    if ((-d $value)) {
>  		$value =~ s@([^/])$@$1/@;
> @@ -921,7 +925,7 @@ sub get_maintainers {
>  				my $value_pd = ($value =~ tr@/@@);
>  				my $file_pd = ($file  =~ tr@/@@);
>  				$value_pd++ if (substr($value,-1,1) ne "/");
> -				$value_pd = -1 if ($value =~ /^\.\*/);
> +				$value_pd = -1 if ($value =~ /^(\.\*|\(\?:\.\*\))/);
>  				if ($value_pd >= $file_pd &&
>  				    range_is_maintained($start, $end) &&
>  				    range_has_maintainer($start, $end)) {
> @@ -955,6 +959,7 @@ sub get_maintainers {
>  			$line =~ s/([^\\])\.([^\*])/$1\?$2/g;
>  			$line =~ s/([^\\])\.$/$1\?/g;	##Convert . back to ?
>  			$line =~ s/\\\./\./g;       	##Convert \. to .
> +			$line =~ s/\(\?:\.\*\)/\*\*/g;	##Convert (?:.*) to **
>  			$line =~ s/\.\*/\*/g;       	##Convert .* to *
>  		    }
>  		    my $count = $line =~ s/^([A-Z]):/$1:\t/g;
> @@ -1048,7 +1053,7 @@ sub file_match_pattern {
>  	if ($file =~ m@^$pattern@) {
>  	    my $s1 = ($file =~ tr@/@@);
>  	    my $s2 = ($pattern =~ tr@/@@);
> -	    if ($s1 == $s2) {
> +	    if ($s1 == $s2 || $pattern =~ /\(\?:/) {
>  		return 1;
>  	    }
>  	}
> 
> ```