(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PHP 7)
fnmatch — Match filename against a pattern
$pattern
   , string $string
   [, int $flags = 0
  ] )
   fnmatch() checks if the passed string would
   match the given shell wildcard pattern.
  
patternThe shell wildcard pattern.
stringThe tested string. This function is especially useful for filenames, but may also be used on regular strings.
The average user may be used to shell patterns or at least in their simplest form to '?' and '*' wildcards so using fnmatch() instead of preg_match() for frontend search expression input may be way more convenient for non-programming users.
flags
       The value of flags can be any combination of 
       the following flags, joined with the
       binary OR (|) operator.
       
| Flag | Description | 
|---|---|
| FNM_NOESCAPE | Disable backslash escaping. | 
| FNM_PATHNAME | Slash in string only matches slash in the given pattern. | 
| FNM_PERIOD | Leading period in string must be exactly matched by period in the given pattern. | 
| FNM_CASEFOLD | Caseless match. Part of the GNU extension. | 
   Returns TRUE if there is a match, FALSE otherwise.
  
| Version | Description | 
|---|---|
| 5.3.0 | This function is now available on Windows platforms. | 
Example #1 Checking a color name against a shell wildcard pattern
<?php
if (fnmatch("*gr[ae]y", $color)) {
  echo "some form of gray ...";
}
?>
For now, this function is not available on non-POSIX compliant systems except Windows.