Wildcard string comparison in Javascript

Question

Let\'s say I have an array with many Strings Called \"birdBlue\", \"birdRed\" and some other animals like \"pig1\", \"pig2\"

Answer 1

var searchArray = function(arr, str){
    // If there are no items in the array, return an empty array
    if(typeof arr === 'undefined' || arr.length === 0) return [];
    // If the string is empty return all items in the array
    if(typeof str === 'undefined' || str.length === 0) return arr;

    // Create a new array to hold the results.
    var res = [];

    // Check where the start (*) is in the string
    var starIndex = str.indexOf('*');

    // If the star is the first character...
    if(starIndex === 0) {

        // Get the string without the star.
        str = str.substr(1);
        for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {

            // Check if each item contains an indexOf function, if it doesn't it's not a (standard) string.
            // It doesn't necessarily mean it IS a string either.
            if(!arr[i].indexOf) continue;

            // Check if the string is at the end of each item.
            if(arr[i].indexOf(str) === arr[i].length - str.length) {                    
                // If it is, add the item to the results.
                res.push(arr[i]);
            }
        }
    }
    // Otherwise, if the star is the last character
    else if(starIndex === str.length - 1) {
        // Get the string without the star.
        str = str.substr(0, str.length - 1);
        for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
            // Check indexOf function                
            if(!arr[i].indexOf) continue;
            // Check if the string is at the beginning of each item
            if(arr[i].indexOf(str) === 0) {
                // If it is, add the item to the results.
                res.push(arr[i]);
            }
        }
    }
    // In any other case...
    else {            
        for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
            // Check indexOf function
            if(!arr[i].indexOf) continue;
            // Check if the string is anywhere in each item
            if(arr[i].indexOf(str) !== -1) {
                // If it is, add the item to the results
                res.push(arr[i]);
            }
        }
    }

    // Return the results as a new array.
    return res;
}

var birds = ['bird1','somebird','bird5','bird-big','abird-song'];

var res = searchArray(birds, 'bird*');
// Results: bird1, bird5, bird-big
var res = searchArray(birds, '*bird');
// Results: somebird
var res = searchArray(birds, 'bird');
// Results: bird1, somebird, bird5, bird-big, abird-song

There is an long list of caveats to a method like this, and a long list of 'what ifs' that are not taken into account, some of which are mentioned in other answers. But for a simple use of star syntax this may be a good starting point.

Fiddle