fileSearch / filesSearch function

Syntax

• string fileSearch(searchQuery)
• string[] filesSearch(searchQuery)

Parameters

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

Returns

An alphabetically sorted list with all files in the workspace matching the searchQuery

• fileSearch returns a string list - each entry is terminated with a ";" (semicolon).
• filesSearch returns a string array.

Description

The fileSearch and filesSearch functions list all files in the workspace which match 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; queries with filepaths containing a space character need special treatment.

Wildcards

The common wildcards characters '*' (asterisk character) and '?' (question mark) are supported. The asterisk substitutes for any series of characters (including no characters), and the question mark substitutes any single 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.

Whitespace Characters

Because whitespace means AND, search queries containing an actual space need to be put into single quotes. For example,

filesSearch("'facade pictures/greek style *.png'")

Alternatively, spaces can be escaped in regexps with "\s" or "\x20":

filesSearch("$facade\\spictures/greek\\sstyle\\s.*.png")

Take note of the double backslashes - this is needed because the CGA compiler also interprets the '\' character on compilation.

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.

Wildcards

filesSearch("*.png")                       [/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.

filesSearch("?.png")                       []

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

filesSearch("*/?.png")                     [/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.

filesSearch("textures/*")                  [/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

filesSearch("$[12].png")                   []

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

filesSearch("$textures/[12].png")          [/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

filesSearch("$.*/[12].png")                [/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

filesSearch("$textures/[2-5].png")         [/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

filesSearch("$textures/[12].png|.*.obj")   [/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

filesSearch("Name=1.png")                  [/MyProject/assets/textures/1.png]

Only one file matches the name excatly.

File Properties, AND

filesSearch("Project=OtherProject Ext=obj")[/OtherProject/assets/brick.obj]

Using whitespace, two or more queries can be combined. Here, a file must match both the project name and the file extension.