Extended Directory Searches

When you change directories with an automatic directory change, CD, CDD, 
or PUSHD command, CMD.EXE must find the directory you want to change to. 
 To do so, the command processor first uses the traditional method to find 
a new directory:  it checks to see whether you have specified either the 
name of an existing subdirectory below the current directory, or the name 
of an existing directory with a full path or a drive letter.  If you have, 
the command processor changes to that directory, and does no further 
searching. 

This traditional search method requires that you navigate manually through 
the directory tree, and type the entire name of each directory you want to 
change to.  Extended Directory Searches speed up the navigation process 
dramatically by allowing the command processor to find the directory you 
want, even if you only enter a small part of its name. 

When the traditional search method fails, CMD.EXE try to find the 
directory you requested via the CDPATH, then via an Extended Directory 
Search.  This section covers only Extended Directory Searches, which are 
more flexible and more commonly used than CDPATH. 

Extended Directory Searches use a database of directory names to 
facilitate changing to the correct directory.  The database is used only 
if Extended Directory Searches are enabled, and if the explicit directory 
search and CDPATH search fail to find the directory you requested. 

An extended directory search automatically finds the correct path to the 
requested directory and changes to it if that directory exists in your 
directory database.  If more than one directory in the database matches 
the name you have typed, a popup window appears and you can choose the 
directory you want. 

You can control the color, position and size of the popup directory search 
window from the Command line 2 page of the OPTION dialogs, or with 
directives in the .INI file, including CDDWinLeft, CDDWinTop, CDDWinWidth, 
and CDDWinHeight, and CDDWinColors.  You can also change the keys used in 
the popup window with key mapping directives in CMD.INI. 

To use extended directory searches, you must explicitly enable them and 
also create the directory database. 

The Extended Search Database 

To create or update the database of directory names, use the CDD /S 
command.  When you create the database with CDD /S, you can specify which 
drives should be included.  If you enable Extended Directory Searches and 
do not create the database, it will be created automatically the first 
time it is required, and will include all local hard drives. 

The database is stored in the file JPSTREE.IDX, which is placed in the 
root directory of drive C: by default.  The same tree file is used by all 
JP Software command processors.  You can specify a different location for 
this file on the Command Line 2 page of the OPTION dialogs, or with the 
TreePath .INI directive.  If you are using 2 or more of our products on 
your computer and want to have different drives stored in the database for 
each, use the dialogs or the TreePath directive to place their database 
directories in different locations. 

If you use an internal CMD.EXE command to create or delete a directory, 
the directory database is automatically updated to reflect the change to 
your directory structure.  The updates occur if the command processor can 
find the JPSTREE.IDX file in the root directory of drive C: or in the 
location specified by the TreePath .INI directive. 

The internal commands which can modify the directory structure and cause 
automatic updates of the file are MD, RD, COPY /S, DEL /X, MOVE /S, and 
REN. The MD /N command can be used to create a directory without updating 
the directory database.  This is useful when creating a temporary 
directory which you do not want to appear in the database. 

Enabling Extended Searches 

To enable extended directory searches and control their operation, you 
must set the FuzzyCD directive in the .INI file.  You can set FuzzyCD with 
the Search Level option on the Command Line 2 page of the OPTION dialogs, 
or by editing the .INI file manually. 

        If FuzzyCD = 0, extended searches are disabled, the JPSTREE 
        database is ignored, and CD, CDD, PUSHD, and automatic directory 
        changes search for directories using only explicit names and 
        CDPATH.  This is the default. 

        If FuzzyCD = 1 and an extended search is required, then the 
        command processor will search the JPSTREE database for directory 
        names which exactly match the name you specified. 

        If FuzzyCD = 2 and an extended search is required, the command 
        processor will search the database for exact matches first, just 
        as when FuzzyCD = 1.  If the requested directory is not found, it 
        will search the database a second time looking for directory names 
        that begin with the name you specified. 

        If FuzzyCD = 3 and an extended search is required, the command 
        processor will search the database for exact matches first, just 
        as when FuzzyCD = 1.  If the requested directory is not found, it 
        will search the database a second time looking for directory names 
        that contain the name you specified anywhere within them. 

 For example, suppose that you have a directory called C:\DATA\MYDIR, 
 CDPATH is not set, and C:\DATA is not the current directory on drive C:. 
  The following chart shows what CDD command you might use to change to 
 this directory. 

        FuzzyCD     
        Setting     CDD Command 
                    
         0          [c:\] cdd c:\data\mydir 
         1          [c:\] cdd mydir 
         2          [c:\] cdd myd 
         3          [c:\] cdd yd 
 
 An extended directory search is not used if you specify a full directory 
 path (one beginning with a backslash [\], or a drive letter and a 
 backslash).  If you use a name which begins with a drive letter (e.g. 
 C:MYDIR ), the extended search will examine only directories on that 
 drive. 

 Forcing an Extended Search with Wildcards 

 Normally you type a specific directory name for the command processor to 
 locate, and the search proceeds as described in the preceding sections. 
 However, you can also force the command processor to perform an extended 
 directory search by using wildcard characters in the directory name.  If 
 you use a wildcard, an extended search will occur whether or not extended 
 searches have been enabled. 

 When CMD.EXE is changing directories and it finds wildcards in the 
 directory name, it skips the explicit search and CDPATH steps and goes 
 directly to the extended search. 

 If a single match is found, the change is made immediately.  If more than 
 one match is found, a popup window is displayed with all matching 
 directories. 

 Wildcards can only be used in the final directory name in the path (after 
 the last backslash in the path name).  For example you can find 
 COMM\*A*.* (all directories whose parent directory is COMM and which have 
 an A somewhere in their names), but you cannot find CO?M\*A*.* because it 
 uses a wildcard before the last backslash. 

 If you use wildcards in the directory name as described here, and the 
 extended directory search database does not exist, it will be built 
 automatically the first time a wildcard is used.  You can update the 
 database at any time with CDD /S. 

 Internally, extended directory searches use wildcards to scan the 
 directory database.  If FuzzyCD is set to 2, an extended search looks for 
 the name you typed followed by an asterisk (i.e. DIRNAME*).  If FuzzyCD 
 is set to 3, it looks for the name preceded and followed by an asterisk 
 (i.e. *DIRNAME*). 

 These internal wildcards will be used in addition to any wildcards you 
 use in the name.  For example if you search for ABC?DEF (ABC followed by 
 any character followed by DEF) and FuzzyCD is set to 3, the command 
 processor will actually search the directory database for *ABC?DEF*. 

 Disabling Extended Searches in Batch Files 

 When writing batch files you may want to use the CD or CDD command to 
 switch directories without triggering an extended search.  For example, 
 you may need the search to fail (rather than search the extended search 
 database) if a directory does not exist, or you may want to ensure that 
 the extended search popup window does not appear in a batch file designed 
 to run in unattended mode. 

 To disable extended searches, use the /N option of CD or CDD.  When this 
 option is used and a directory does not exist below the current directory 
 or on the CDPATH, the command will fail with an error message, and will 
 not search the extended search database.  For example this command might 
 trigger an extended search: 

 
      cdd testdir
 

 but this one will not: 

 
      cdd /n testdir
 

 Note that this option is not available for PUSHD.  To perform the same 
 function when using PUSHD, save the current directory with PUSHD (without 
 parameters) and then use CDD /N to change directories, for example: 

 
      pushd
      cdd /n testdir