SEARCH DIRECTORY

SEARCH DIRECTORY (SET)

Set Subcommand

Specify the name of the directory where Dataplot will look for files.

When Dataplot encounters a file name (on the LIST, READ, WRITE, or CALL commands), it will do the following:
1. It will first look for the file in the current directory (you can enter the PWD command if you are not sure what that is).

2. If the command
   SET HOME PATH ON

   has been given, then your home directory will be searched next.

3. If it does not find the file, it will look for the file in the Dataplot auxillary directory. By default, this will be "C:\Program Files (x86)\NIST\DATAPLOT" under Windows systems and "/usr/local/lib/dataplot" under Unix/Linux/Mac OS X systems. However, this may be different on your platform.

   Dataplot first searches this directory and then the following sub-directories "help", "data", "dex", "10step", "macros", "programs", "text", "menu", "ps", and "scripts" are searched (in the order given).

Note that under Unix/Linux/Mac OS X systems, which are case sensitive, Datatplot will first try to open the file name as given. If the file is not found, then Dataplot will convert the file name to all upper case and try to open the file. If the file is not found, then Dataplot will convert the file name to all lower case and try to open the file. Note that this file name conversion is performed in each directory before moving to the next directory.

Some users may find it convenient to keep macros and datasets that will be used in subsequent Dataplot sessions in a common directory. The SEARCH DIRECTORY command allows you to specify a directory to be searched for file names. This directory will be searched after the current directory but before the Dataplot auxillary directories.

Currently, this command is limited to a single directory.

Note:

The 2020/05 version of Dataplot added the SET SEARCH2 DIRECTORY, SET SEARCH3 DIRECTORY, SET SEARCH4 DIRECTORY, SET SEARCH5 DIRECTORY and SET SEARCH6 DIRECTORY commands to allow up to six user specified directories to be searched.

The 2 to 6 suffix specifies the order in which the directories are searched. However, you do not have to define them in any particular order. For example, you can enter a SET SEARCH4 DIRECTORY command without entering a SET SEARCH3 DIRECTORY or a SET SEARCH2 DIRECTORY command.

SET SEARCH DIRECTORY <string>
where <string> specifies the desired directory name.

SET SEARCH2 DIRECTORY <string>
where <string> specifies the desired directory name.

This specifies a second user specified directory.

SET SEARCH3 DIRECTORY <string>
where <string> specifies the desired directory name.

This specifies a third user specified directory.

SET SEARCH4 DIRECTORY <string>
where <string> specifies the desired directory name.

This specifies a fourth user specified directory.

SET SEARCH5 DIRECTORY <string>
where <string> specifies the desired directory name.

This specifies a fifth user specified directory.

SET SEARCH6 DIRECTORY <string>
where <string> specifies the desired directory name.

This specifies a sixth user specified directory.

SET SEARCH DIRECTORY C:\DATAPLOT_MACROS
SET SEARCH DIRECTORY C:\DATAPLOT_DATASETS
SET SEARCH DIRECTORY /home/heckert/dataplot_macros
SET SEARCH2 DIRECTORY C:\MY_DATAPLOT_FILES

None

SET SEARCH PATH

SET PATH	= Define the location for Dataplot's auxillary files.
LIST	= List the contents of a file.
READ	= Read data from a file.
WRITE	= Write data to a file.
CALL	= Execute commands stored in a file.

File Usage

2014/10
2020/05: Added SEARCH2, SEARCH3, SEARCH4, SEARCH5, and SEARCH6 options

 
. Assume "sample.dp" is in the /home/heckert/dataplot/macros directory
.
SET SEARCH DIRECTORY /home/heckert/dataplot/macros
CALL sample.dp