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Re: file_lines and expand path [message #49625 is a reply to message #49624]

Fri, 04 August 2006 14:48

James Kuyper
Messages: 425
Registered: March 2000

Senior Member

Paul van Delst wrote:
...
> Hang on a minute.... in the IDL file_lines documentation it states:
>
>
> Return Value
> ------------
> Returns the number of lines of text contained within the specified file or files. If an
> array of file names is specified via the Path parameter, the return value is an array with

Note: "If an array of file names is specified ...".

> the same number of elements as Path, with each element containing the number of lines in
> the corresponding file.
>
> Arguments
> ---------
> Path
> A scalar string or string array containing the names of the text files for which the
> number of lines is desired.
>
>
> So, the IDL version of file_lines *should* return an array when multiple files are given.
> Does this mean IDL has a bug in file_lines() with regards to how it handles wildcard
> input? The words associated with the /NOEXPAND_PATH suggest that wildcard inputs are
> allowed (although it doesn't specifically say it).

I've tested it, and an array of strings works exactly as it should. I
suspect that the possibility of a string argument containing wildcards
that allow it to match multiple files was not even considered.

Issue: if the FL version returns an array when given a string argument
with wildcards that match multiple files, how should it handle an array
of string arguments, some or all of which have that same
characteristic? Personally, I think it should return an array of line
counts with the same length as the array of path names; anything else
would make it very complicated for the the calling routine to match up
inputs and outputs. I'd recommend using a total when multiple matches
to a wildcard occur, because I can actually imagine contexts where that
would be useful. I can't see anything useful about returning the length
of a randomly member of the matching set of files.

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[Message index]

		Re: file_lines and expand path By: Paul Van Delst[1] on Mon, 07 August 2006 11:27
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: greg michael on Mon, 07 August 2006 07:22
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: FL on Mon, 07 August 2006 03:46
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: Paul Van Delst[1] on Fri, 04 August 2006 15:50
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: James Kuyper on Fri, 04 August 2006 14:48
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: Paul Van Delst[1] on Fri, 04 August 2006 12:35
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: Jean H. on Fri, 04 August 2006 11:57
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: Paul Van Delst[1] on Fri, 04 August 2006 11:04
		Re: file_lines and expand path By: James Kuyper on Fri, 04 August 2006 09:39

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