Improve ArcPy List Functions Documentation: Explain Wildcard Position

[AliTalaat22]

The current ArcPy documentation for List functions (ListWorkspaces, ListFeatureClasses, etc.) only briefly mentions that the wildcard * represents “zero or more characters” and is case-insensitive. However, it does not explain how the position of the wildcard (start, end, or both) affects the results.

The example below demonstrates the difference between patterns '*.gdb', 'ALI_BIO*', and '*ALI*'. Adding such examples to the documentation would help users understand wildcard behavior and avoid confusion.

import arcpy

# Set the workspace
arcpy.env.workspace = r"C:\GIS\Projects"

# Example 1: Any item ending with .gdb
ending_gdb = arcpy.ListWorkspaces("*.gdb")
print("Pattern '*.gdb' matches:", ending_gdb)

# Example 2: Any item starting with ALI_BIO
starting_ref = arcpy.ListWorkspaces("ALI_BIO*")
print("Pattern 'ALI_BIO*' matches:", starting_ref)

# Example 3: Any item containing ALI anywhere
contains_tpt = arcpy.ListWorkspaces("*ALI*")
print("Pattern '*ALI*' matches:", contains_tpt)
 

[JoshuaBixby]

@AliTalaat22 , wildcard behavior is fairly standard across programming/scripting languages and commands.  Is there specific wildcard behavior that you are finding unexpected?  If so, can you provide an example?

[DanPatterson]

many of the use cases are contained within the code samples, for example from

ListDatasets—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation

# Print all the feature datasets in the workspace that start with the letter c
# or f.
datasets1 = list(set(arcpy.ListDatasets("c*", "Feature")) |
                 set(arcpy.ListDatasets("f*", "Feature")))
print(datasets1)

or 

# Print all the feature datasets in the workspace that contain both the letter c
# and f.
datasets3 = list(set(arcpy.ListDatasets("*c*", "Feature")) &
                 set(arcpy.ListDatasets("*f*", "Feature")))
print(datasets3)

so yes, specific examples of unexpected behaviour would be useful