is it possible to search for a particular expression/entry in a file inside a folder in matlab?

Question

is there a command to search for a 'particular entry inside the files present in a folder' in matlab? like if i want to search for the word "hello" in all the files present in folder A.

allFiles = dir( 'G:\folder\myfilename' );
allNames = { allFiles.name };

only lets me search for a particular file in a specific folder.:(

You mean like Linux' `grep -r "*hello*" *`? Both answers seem to be focusing on finding *file names* containing "\*hello\*", but I think you're asking for a "\*hello\*" in the *any file's contents*...is this true? — Rody Oldenhuis, Nov 15 '12 at 08:37
Yes.Like if i have search for a particular entry in nested folders(folder A has 20 more folders in it and i need to search for an entry within every folder and sub folder) — learningMatlab, Nov 16 '12 at 19:49

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 14 '12 at 17:47

4

You can use wildcards:

 allFiles = dir( 'G:\folder\myfilename\*hello*.*' );

answered Nov 14 '12 at 17:47

Andrey Rubshtein

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What if there are sub folders inside the main folder and i need to search for a particular entry for all files in the sub folders as well? – learningMatlab Nov 14 '12 at 18:25
on running the above command i get allFiles = 0x1 struct array with fields: name date bytes isdir datenum – learningMatlab Nov 14 '12 at 18:32

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:04

0

See this answer to get you a list of all files in a directory.

Then you can use regexpi to identify any files containing the string 'hello'.

Or as Peter D points out:

I found it useful to build in regular expressions into the function.
if ~isempty(fileList)     
   fileList = cellfun(@(x) fullfile(dirName,x),'UniformOutput',false);
   matchstart =  regexp(fileList, pattern); 
   fileList = fileList(~cellfun(@isempty,  matchstart));
end 
and change the function signature to

getAllFiles(dirName, pattern) (also in the 2nd to last line)

edited May 23 '17 at 12:04

Community

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answered Nov 14 '12 at 21:39

Doresoom

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Actually, looks like the last commentator on that question has laid the groundwork for doing exactly what you want to do. I'll add his quote to my answer. – Doresoom Nov 14 '12 at 21:42

is it possible to search for a particular expression/entry in a file inside a folder in matlab?

2 Answers2