search

Description

The search command allows users to search for files and folders in the current directory. It supports recursive searches, filtering, and output customization.

Syntax

search -search -recursive -includesubfolders -csv -columns -duplicatesstrategy

Parameters

• search: Search keyword. This supports SQL wildcard %.

• recursive: Searches through all subdirectories recursively.

• includesubfolders: Includes subfolders in the search results.

• csv: Outputs the search results in CSV format.

• columns: Specifies the columns to include in the output seperated by a comma.

• duplicatesstrategy: Defines how duplicate results are resolved when DuplicatedBy or GroupBy is specified in the search query. This parameter is supported for backward compatibility; you can also put Strategy or DuplicatesStrategy directly inside the search query.

Note

Special columns: You can use FileDate, version, State and Hash to list information that is not captured in the datacard. This is useful when searching for duplicates. The hash requires that the file be locally cached. Example:

## lists all duplicates in the current directory by name and prints their file date, hash and revision
search -search "Name=%.sld%;Recursive=true;DuplicatedBy=Name" -columns "FileDate,Hash,Revision"

Note

Advanced search capabilities can be used in the -search parameter. See Advanced Search, Search Tokens, Variable Search, Result Shaping, and Search Favorites.

Examples

Example 1: Basic Search

search -search % # prints all the files in the current directory

Performs a basic search in the current directory.

Example 2: Recursive Search with Subfolders

search -search -recursive -includesubfolders # prints all the files and folders in the current directory

Searches all files and folders, including subdirectories.

Example 3: Export Results to CSV

search -search -csv -columns "Description,PartNumber" # Prints all the files in the current directory with their descriptions and part numbers

Exports the search results to a CSV file with specified columns.

Result Selection and Duplicate Strategy Options

Result selection is handled by the shared search engine. This means the same query options can be used by any command that accepts -search, such as search, delete, checkout, get, setvar, and transition.

Use these query tokens to sort and select search results. For the full reference, see Search Result Shaping.

Important

SortBy, GroupBy, DuplicatedBy, and Strategy require PDMShell to collect all matching PDM search results before sorting, grouping, and applying the strategy. Be mindful when using these options with broad recursive searches that may return hundreds or thousands of files.

Token	Description
DuplicatedBy or GroupBy	Optional. Groups results by a field or variable. When specified, only groups with more than one item are processed.
SortBy	Sorts the matching results before applying the strategy. If GroupBy is specified, each group is sorted separately.
SortOrder or SortDirection	Optional. Use Asc, Ascending, Desc, or Descending.
Strategy or DuplicatesStrategy	Selects which results in each sorted group are processed.

Supported DuplicatedBy, GroupBy, and SortBy values include Name, FileDate, Hash, State, Version, CurrentVersion, Revision, FileSize, ID, Path, FolderID, and PDM variables such as @Revision or @PartNumber.

Without GroupBy, SortBy and Strategy are applied once to all matching results. With GroupBy, they are applied separately inside each duplicate group.

When SortOrder is not specified, date/version/revision/size fields sort descending by default, while name/path/state/ID fields sort ascending by default.

The following strategies are supported for Strategy, DuplicatesStrategy, and the legacy -duplicatesstrategy parameter:

Strategy	Description
KeepFirst	Keeps the first file in the sorted result set or each sorted group.
ExcludeFirst	Excludes the first file and keeps the remaining results.
KeepLast	Keeps the last file in the sorted result set or each sorted group.
ExcludeLast	Excludes the last file and keeps the remaining results.
KeepNewest	Keeps the newest file.
ExcludeNewest	Excludes the newest file and keeps the remaining results.
KeepOldest	Keeps the oldest file.
ExcludeOldest	Excludes the oldest file and keeps the remaining results.
KeepHighestVersion	Keeps the file with the highest PDM version.
ExcludeHighestVersion	Excludes the file with the highest PDM version.
KeepLowestVersion	Keeps the file with the lowest PDM version.
ExcludeLowestVersion	Excludes the file with the lowest PDM version.
KeepLatestRevision	Keeps the file with the latest revision value.
ExcludeLatestRevision	Excludes the file with the latest revision value.
KeepLargest	Keeps the file with the largest file size.
ExcludeLargest	Excludes the file with the largest file size.
KeepSmallest	Keeps the file with the smallest file size.
ExcludeSmallest	Excludes the file with the smallest file size.

## Lists all duplicates in the current directory by name and prints their file date, hash and revision
search -search "Name=%.sld%;Recursive=true;DuplicatedBy=Name" -duplicatesstrategy KeepNewest -columns "FileDate,Hash,Revision"

## Lists all PDFs except the oldest one after sorting the full result set by file date
search -search "Name=%.pdf;SortBy=FileDate;Recursive=true;Strategy=ExcludeFirst" -columns FileDate

## Lists the newest PDF in each duplicate-name group
search -search "Name=%.pdf;Recursive=true;GroupBy=Name;SortBy=FileDate;SortOrder=Desc;Strategy=KeepFirst"

## Deletes all but the newest PDF in each duplicate-name group
delete -search "Name=%.pdf;Recursive=true;GroupBy=Name;SortBy=FileDate;SortOrder=Desc;Strategy=ExcludeFirst"

More examples and strategy details are available in Search Result Shaping.

Notes

• Ensure the current directory is set correctly before running the command.
• Use the -columns parameter to customize the output format. Data is pulled from @ for configuration-supported documents.

Tutorial

Availability

Available since PDMShell 2.0.5.

Last Updated

Updated in PDMShell 4.0.14 to add result shaping with SortBy, SortOrder, GroupBy, DuplicatedBy, and Strategy.