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fileSearch function

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    Syntax

    • string fileSearch(searchQuery)

    Parameters

    1. searchQuery—string
      Search query to apply on list of all files in the workspace. See search queries.

    Returns

    An alphabetically sorted string list with all files in the workspace matching the searchQuery. Each entry is terminated with a ";" (semicolon).

    Description

    The fileSearch function lists all files in the workspace and matches their absolute path with the searchQuery. Search queries are relative to the current project (i.e. the project in which the current rule file resides) except if the searchQuery is based on an absolute workspace path (i.e. starts with a slash ("/") or a wildcard (* or ?). Pseudocode of the matching algorithm: 

    result = ""
for all open projects in workspace :
    if project == current project:
       result +=  all matching files in project, relative to assets folder
       result +=  all matching files in project, relative to project folder
    fi
           
    result += all matching files in project, relative to workspace root
    sort result
end

    Search Queries

    The CityEngine features advanced search queries supporting wildcards, regular expressions and file properties such as filetype. All files in the workspace are filtered with the query and the absolute workspace path is returned. Whitespace means AND.

    Wildcards

    The common wildcards characters '*' (asterisk character) and '?' (question mark) are supported. The asterisk substitutes for any zero or more characters, and the question mark substitutes for any one character.

    Regular Expressions

    Regular expressions allow for complex string patterns descriptions. A comprehensive introduction to regular expressions is out of scope for this manual, please refer to other sources such as Wikipedia or the specification from the Open Group.

    Regular expressions start with '$'. Always put the '$' as the FIRST character if your searchQuery is a regular expression. Note that with regular expressions, the semantics of the wildcards "*" and "?" changes. "*" matches the preceding element zero or more times, therefore use ".*" to emulate the "match anything" behaviour.

    File Properties

    The following properties can be querried:

    • Name: Filename
    • Ext: File extension
    • Project: Project name
    • Path: Filepath

    Related

    • splitString function

    Examples

    In the following examples, we use a basic workspace with two projects and a few files. The examples are in rule.cga, i.e. MyProject is the current project.

    Workspace with two project folders

    Wildcards

    print(fileSearch("*.png"))
# result ="/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;
            /MyProject/assets/textures/4.png;/MyProject/assets/tower.png;
            /OtherProject/assets/glass.png;"

    Because the searchQuery starts with an asterisk, all projects are included in the search. 

    print(fileSearch("?.png"))
# result = ";"

    There is no png file with a 1-character-name in the root directory or the asset directory of the current project. 

    print(fileSearch("*/?.png"))
# result = "/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;
            /MyProject/assets/textures/4.png;"

    Because of the leading asterisk, all folders are searched for a png file with a 1-character-name. 

    print(fileSearch("textures/*"))
# result = "/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;
            /MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/4.png;"

    All files in the "textures" subfolder of the asset folder in the current project match.

    Regular Expression to select specific characters

    print(fileSearch("$[12].png"))
# result = ";"

    There is no png file with name "1" or "2" in the root directory or the asset directory of the current project.

    Regular Expression to select specific characters, part 2

    print(fileSearch("$textures/[12].png"))
# result = "/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;"

    All png files with name "1" or "2" in the "textures" subfolder of the asset folder in the current project match.

    Regular Expression + Wildcard

    print(fileSearch("$.*/[12].png"))
# result = "/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;"

    All png files with name "1" or "2" match. Note the period before the asterisk.

    Regular Expression to select a range of characters

    print(fileSearch("$textures/[2-5].png"))
# result = "/MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/4.png;"

    All png files with name "2", "3, "4" or "5" in the "textures" subfolder of the asset folder in the current project match.

    Regular Expression + OR

    print(fileSearch("$textures/[12].png|.*.obj"))
# result =  /MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;/MyProject/assets/textures/2.png;
             /MyProject/assets/tower.obj;/OtherProject/assets/brick.obj;

    All png files with name "1" or "2" in the "textures" subfolder of the asset folder in the current project and all obj files in the workspace match.

    File Properties

    print(fileSearch("Name=1.png"))
# result = "/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png;"

    Only one file matches the name excatly.

    File Properties, AND

    print(fileSearch("Project=OtherProject Ext=obj"))
# result = "/OtherProject/assets/brick.obj;"

    Using white space, two or more queries can be anded. Here the only file matching the project name and the file extension is matched.

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