7z archive include directories matching regex

Question

I would like to archive directories that match a regular-expression pattern (/[0-9]{4}/). Does 7z support this?

This doesn't find matching directories:

PS> 7z a -t7z C:\Users\<user>\Desktop\Archive.7z '/[0-9]{4}/'

Answer 1

1. 7Zip doesn't support regex, only wildcards. Quote from bundled manual:

7-Zip doesn't uses the system wildcard parser. 7-Zip doesn't follow the archaic rule by which . means any file. 7-Zip treats . as matching the name of any file that has an extension. To process all files, you must use a * wildcard.

2. If you're using PowerShell, you could probably make it work this way:

# Get only objects with names consisting of 4 characters
[array]$Folders = Get-ChildItem -Path '.\' -Filter '????' |
                      # Filter folders matching regex
                      Where-Object {$_.PsIsContainer -and $_.Name -match '[0-9]{4}'} |
                          # Get full paths. Not really needed,
                          # PS is smart enough to expand them, but this way it's more clear
                          Select-Object -ExpandProperty Fullname

# Compress matching folders with 7Zip
& '7z.exe' (@('a', '-t7z', 'C:\Users\<user>\Desktop\Archive.7z') + $Folders)