What patterns does PowerShell -like operator support?

Question

I was not able to find any reference about syntax of the PowerShell -like operator.

Windows PowerShell reference on comparison operators states only:

-Like
Description: Match using the wildcard character (*).

Though by experimenting I've found that it also supports the ? and the [] (set).

Is there any other syntax supported? Is there any definitive reference to the -like operator?

Answer 1

The help for about_Comparison_Operators indeed claims wildcard support. It fails to specify what, exactly, a wildcard is.

-Like Description: Match using the wildcard character (*).

Further digging into help about_Wildcards we learn that these aren't your grandpa's wildcards:

 Windows PowerShell supports the following wildcard characters. Wildcard Description Example Match No match -------- ------------------ -------- ----------------- -------- * Matches zero or a* A, ag, Apple banana more characters ? Matches exactly ?n an, in, on ran one character in the specified position [ ] Matches a range [al]ook book, cook, look took of characters [ ] Matches specified [bc]ook book, cook hook characters 

The link to wildcard help is mentioned on the See also -section in about_Comparision_Operators help.