Questions tagged [files-and-directories]
Questions on obtaining files and directory structure/information and manipulating the said structure/information, searching/renaming particular files in a directory, etc., in an OS independent manner.
100
questions
121
votes
1
answer
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File-backed lists/variables for handling large data
Background
Currently I am working with some large data (most of it generated by Mathematica itself). I usually find it a hassle to do this. For example, I just exported a large amount of data to ...
- 235k
53
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Argument completions for user-defined functions
Mathematica 10 has introduced file name completion for the arguments of certain built-in functions, such as Import, SetDirectory,...
- 235k
46
votes
6
answers
22k
views
How to import all files of a folder at once?
I know how to import one textfile by calling its name
filestring = Import["myfile.tex", "Text"];
Then "filestring" is a string with the myfile content.
How do ...
- 1,485
15
votes
2
answers
605
views
Infix form of PutAppend ( >>> ) does not work with variable
I'm new to Mathematica, so I suspect this question involves either a misunderstanding involving variables or the usage of >>>.
On a webMathematica page (...
- 825
17
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How to workaround failures with Unicode filepaths?
(Cross-posted on the Wolfram Community, reported to the support as [CASE:3965891].)
The Mathematica's Kernel and FrontEnd currently work well with Unicode file/directory paths, but some other ...
- 61.9k
42
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How can I set up a versioning system within a notebook?
Since the Frontend crashes a lot, for important work it would be nice to have the notebook automatically branch and save itself every so many minutes.
For instance, commands like StartSavingCopies[5]...
- 31.5k
28
votes
4
answers
6k
views
List all the directories under the current one
I feel like I am forgetting something obvious, and will remember or be ashamed as soon as an answer turns up. However, I cannot for the life of me get all of the directories in the current working ...
- 4,939
12
votes
5
answers
2k
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Searching a phrase in all *.nb files
I have so many *.nb files in a folder. In one of them I have written a phrase, unfortunately I cannot remember that file. I am searching about it and the file in ...
- 4,847
32
votes
4
answers
9k
views
Relative paths for portable notebooks in Mathematica
I cannot find how to use relative paths in Mathematica. My directory structure is simple.
...
- 809
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Analogue of NotebookDirectory[] for scripts (to get the directory path of my script.m)?
Is there a way to get the script directory from inside a Mathematica script?
I want a function analogue to NotebookDirectory[] (which doesn't work for scripts). Is ...
- 11.4k
22
votes
1
answer
624
views
$Path hijacked by PacletManager?
Summary:
Since Mathematica version 6, the PacletManager seems to have engineered an escalating hijack of the $Path variable. Add-on packages need to have a ...
- 6,211
54
votes
1
answer
5k
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What is the difference between a .wl package and a .m package?
In Mathematica 10.x, one now has both .wl Wolfram Language Packages and .m Wolfram Mathematica Packages.
What's the difference?...
- 11.9k
19
votes
2
answers
559
views
Mathematica "prelude"
Is there any way to have the functions from a mathematica file be loaded on startup?
For example, in this excellent answer, Jens helps me out and gives me some functions for creating legends for ...
- 1,581
19
votes
2
answers
988
views
Path Names Longer Than 256 on Windows
Is there a way to work with pathnames that are longer than the typical 256 in Mathematica?
For example run the following in Cygwin
...
- 7,605
12
votes
2
answers
824
views
Execute code when file is modified
I have a function the takes some time to complete. The function imports data from a .csv, parses it, and plots certain vectors from there. The .csv is constantly being updated from an external ...
- 10.9k
10
votes
1
answer
822
views
Mathematica 10 doesn't support path containing Chinese characters
Bug introduced in 10.0 and fixed in 10.0.2
I tried to import file in Mathematica 10 ( windows 7 system), the path contains some chinese characters. After holding ctrl+shift, and drag the file into ...
- 17.1k
11
votes
4
answers
549
views
Handy / flexible directory tree operations
Is there any shorter / more handy / more flexible way to get directory tree as a nested Rules/Associations list?
I tried to incorporate ...
Kuba♦
- 137k
4
votes
1
answer
3k
views
How to set default save directory for notebooks?
Based on certain previous questions, I figured that if my NotebookBrowseDirectory looked like this
...
- 1,553
3
votes
2
answers
915
views
How can I automatically name files being exported based on input parameters
I have Mathematica notebook that performs some operation say
a=2
b=3
c=5
d=4
how do I set the output file after evaluation to be named using the values $2,3,5,\...
- 33
26
votes
1
answer
518
views
Tool to locate bloat in a notebook?
In developing a notebook, I often find I have created a very boated file that takes a long time to save. I would like to slim it down. It is usually the result of graphics and images, but they may be ...
- 1,919
24
votes
1
answer
606
views
A documented syntax of FileNames doesn't work?
Documentation discrepancy present in 10.3 and fixed in 10.4.1
According to the documentation for FileNames under Details:
However when I attempt to use this ...
- 272k
22
votes
1
answer
4k
views
How to get the directory of a package?
I have a package that I have placed in the $BaseDirectory\Applications directory so that Needs can find it. I have a logo in ...
- 42.3k
14
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Using ReadList and Skip to read a file with periodic alternation of useful and useless data
I am trying a read a file that's arranged such that there's alternating set of rows containing data that I don't need and data that I need. So for my case the first n lines in the files are useless to ...
- 33.1k
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How to add a trusted path in Mathematica?
I would like to add a trusted a path in the global preferences of Mathematica. When I go to NotebookSecurityOptions, click the tool button for ...
- 5,259
7
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Cannot find BaseDirectory or UserBaseDirectory in Mac OS El Capitan
I am new to Mac OS, so this might be a silly question, but....
I just searched for $BaseDirectory and $UserBaseDirectory in my ...
- 5,290
6
votes
1
answer
116
views
Trace and TracePrint are slow, How to Trace to a file for speed
Trace and TracePrint generates or prints a list of all expressions used in the evaluation of its argument. For complicated ...
- 36.5k
5
votes
1
answer
361
views
Watch File in Directory .NET
How might I watch for a specific file to change in a directory using Mathematica/.NET code?
The following works in .NET but fires twice when you change the file.
...
- 7,605
20
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Determine the Number of Lines in a Text File
I have looked and looked but I do not see a simple efficient way to get Mathematica to return the number of lines in a text file?
I thought about reading the file until it returned the EOF marker, ...
- 1,029
17
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Visualizing directories
How do I plot the content of a directory and all its subdirectories into infinity using TreeForm? I've tried using a mix of ...
- 70.6k
14
votes
3
answers
408
views
How can I get a FileNameSetter-like dialog inside my own custom dialog?
I am making a GUI for one of my programs. The program is tasked with opening certain data files containing optical spectroscopy data and then doing things which are unrelated to this question.
The ...
- 11.5k
14
votes
3
answers
341
views
What kind of check does DirectoryQ exactly perform?
I'm using Mathematica 9.0.1 on Windows XP and my drive letters are assigned as follows: C: and D: are hard local disks, while <...
- 1,843
11
votes
0
answers
318
views
Creating compiled search TRIE file for argument string completion
I'd like to generate a compiled search TRIE file (like those found in $InstallationDirectory\SystemFiles\FrontEnd\SystemResources\FunctionalFrequency\) to help ...
- 1,523
10
votes
3
answers
31k
views
How to export data to a plain text file?
I am preparing data used by a command line program. It requires data in a simpliest possible format:
value_x1 value_y1
value_x2 value_y2
...
value_xN value_yN
...
- 2,640
9
votes
2
answers
184
views
Problem with LocalSymbol
Bug introduced in 10.2 and fixed in 11.1
I have found that LocalSymbol will sometimes create and store persistent data in a directory different from and off the ...
- 108k
9
votes
1
answer
319
views
How to unlock a stylesheet which is not needed anymore by the FrontEnd
Bug introduced in 10.3.0 or earlier and fixed in 11.1
Bug reproduced on Win but not on Mac
Reply from WRI Support:
[...] This indeed seems to be an issue with the Frontend on Windows and I have ...
Kuba♦
- 137k
9
votes
2
answers
847
views
What's the fastest way to read a simple numerical list?
I have a large .txt file for which I need to do some data analysis. I've been working on it for a while, and the analysis part has got faster and faster so that most of the evaluation time is now ...
- 291
9
votes
2
answers
318
views
Error when implementing StartProcess[] in loops (Do, While, Table)
I'm using Mathematica to control another program (Surface Evolver) through the terminal (ie using StartProcess[]; and ...
- 91
7
votes
4
answers
965
views
How to batch rename a directory of files?
I have a directory of files with the pattern: "some_number.some_name.pdf"
I want to remove the "some_number." part from all the ...
- 73
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Get the last line from each of a large number of files, transform them, and write all results to a single new file
I have several hundreds of .csv files that are not logically named (contains numbers, characters, and special characters), all stored in a directory. Each file has large but unequal number of rows and ...
- 908
6
votes
0
answers
346
views
How to create TAR archive without top-level folder?
Mathematica has the handy CreateArchive function, which allows you to efficiently create a TAR archive from a directory. However, I see no way of specifying not to ...
- 2,055
5
votes
2
answers
286
views
How to define a function to save a list to a same-name file
I want a convenient way to save lots of intermediate data lists into files, so that next time the files can be imported automatically to homonym list variables in the notebook, without having to ...
- 794
4
votes
1
answer
316
views
Resolve absolute path to Documentation Notebook
We can easily create clickable hyperlinks for Documentation pages like the following:
{URL["paclet:ref/Set"], Hyperlink["paclet:ref/Set"]}
But ...
- 61.9k
4
votes
1
answer
131
views
Why does Thread FileDate give an error message?
I tried for example
Thread[FileDate[FileNames["new*", "h:\\temp\\", 1]]]
It gives
FileDate::fstr: File specification
{h:\temp\NEWEA7D.tmp,h:\temp\NEWEA7E....
- 17.1k
2
votes
2
answers
321
views
Where to place the essential WSTP files in Visual Studio 2019?
I have Visual Studio for C installed in : C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Enterprise\VC
From https://reference.wolfram.com/language/tutorial/WSTPDeveloperGuide-Windows.html :
"...
- 9,657
2
votes
1
answer
255
views
Get (<<) Evaluate File Name
This seems like a simple question due to lack of experience, but I can't seem to find an answer through searching. I am trying to read back a symbol from a DumpSave:...
- 934
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
How to set the relative directory so that they work both in script and in notebook and portable?
Maybe the question is not clear, here I try to state it in more detail： I have a folder named project, for instance. In it I have two folders, one is named ...
- 1,745
20
votes
2
answers
399
views
How to find the package file that stores a certain symbol?
Is it possible to figure out in what file a certain packaged symbol lives in (assuming there is no shadowing between multiple identical symbol names)? I would like to have a function that if, given a ...
- 47k
15
votes
1
answer
434
views
Wrong function of NotebookDirectory[] in the 12.1 version
Bug introduced in 12.1.0 and fixed in 12.2.0 (or 12.1.1?)
Could anybody help?
NotebookDirectory[] function began working wrong in 12.1 (the bug was not present in ...
- 151
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Prevent Export from overwriting files
Export["filepath1",Expression1] works for me, but if filepath1 already exists, it will be overwritten. I'd like ...
- 451
11
votes
1
answer
334
views
How to test if file exists on the front end machine?
When using a remote Mathematica kernel, how can you test if a file exists on the local front end machine? Of course FileExistsQ cannot be used in this scenario, ...
- 5,120