Names¶

Lists symbol names matching a string pattern with wildcards.

$ wo 'Names["List"]'
{List}

A pattern's context part selects the context and its name part the symbol. A pattern without a context searches the contexts on $ContextPath, which is why the plain form above finds the built-ins — they are ystem symbols.

$ wo 'A`b = 5; A`c = 6; Names["A`*"]'
{A`b, A`c}

A context that is not on $ContextPath is listed under its full name, and Names never reaches across a backtick: A*does not matchASubx`.

$ wo 'A`b = 5; A`Sub`x = 1; {Names["A`*"], Names["A`Sub`*"]}'
{{A`b}, {A`Sub`x}}

Names are listed case-insensitively, with $ sorting after the letters:

$ wo 'zz$a::usage = "u"; zzb::usage = "u"; zz1::usage = "u"; zzA::usage = "u"; Names["zz*"]'
{zz1, zzA, zzb, zz$a}