topic Re: Issue when doing if a list contains str from a list: return with wrong list in Discussions

Issue when doing if a list contains str from a list: return with wrong list

dadawasozo — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 16:56:30 GMT

I want to get a list of files that contain str from another list, but the return is empty. What did I do wrong? Can someone advise? Below is my script.

filelist = Files In Directory( path );

//filelist={"123_123_1_acdr.csv", "234_113_100_rqtfgy.csv", "53_1243_12_qqwed.csv", "6_12378_23_rty.csv"}
lst1 = {"234_113_100", "53_1243_12"};
lst2 = {};

For( i = 1, i <= N Items( filelist ), i++, 
	If( Contains( lst1, filelist[i] ), 
		Insert Into( lst2, filelist[i] )
	)
);

Print( lst2 );

the expected output of lst2 ={"234_113_100_rqtfgy.csv", "53_1243_12_qqwed.csv"} however, the output lst2 is empty.

Re: Issue when doing if a list contains str from a list: return with wrong list

txnelson — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 21:18:19 GMT

if a contains is used to search through a list, it will look for only complete matches. Searching through a string, one can check for partial matches.

//filelist = Files In Directory( path );

filelist = {"123_123_1_acdr.csv", "234_113_100_rqtfgy.csv", "53_1243_12_qqwed.csv",
"6_12378_23_rty.csv"};
lst1 = {"234_113_100", "53_1243_12"};
lst2 = {};

For( i = 1, i <= N Items( filelist ), i++,
	For( k = 1, k <= N Items( lst1 ), k++,
		If( Contains(  filelist[i], lst1[k] ),
			Insert Into( lst2, filelist[i] )
		)
	)
);
Print( lst2 );

Re: Issue when doing if a list contains str from a list: return with wrong list

svarga — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 21:32:56 GMT

A quick word of advice, I like to test scripts out in the Scripting Index. I went to the Files In Directory example and substituted your values. If you want to just have one for loop, you'll need to ensure that your lst1 has the exact match. But for this example, you need a nested for loop. You also need to switch the Contains arguments from lst1, filelist[i] to filelist[i], lst[j].

filelist = {"123_123_1_acdr.csv", "234_113_100_rqtfgy.csv",
"53_1243_12_qqwed.csv", "6_12378_23_rty.csv"};
lst1 = {"234_113_100"};
lst2 = {};

For( i = 1, i <= N Items( filelist ), i++,
	For(j = 1, j <= N Items(lst1), j++,
		If( Contains( filelist[i], lst1[j] ),
			Insert Into( lst2, filelist[i] )
		)
	)
);

Print( lst2 );

Result: {"234_113_100_rqtfgy.csv"}

Re: Issue when doing if a list contains str from a list: return with wrong list

dadawasozo — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 22:53:28 GMT

Thank You Svarga and Jim. Now I understand the issue.