textfile()

textfile(<type>, <entry>)
textentries(<type>, <pattern>[, <osep>])
textsearch(<type>, <pattern>[, <osep>])

textfile() returns the text of an entry in a text file category, such as help or news, as it is written: its Markdown, headings and blank lines included. Use edit() and squish() on the result if you want it as a list of words rather than for display.

textentries() returns the topic names in <type> matching <pattern>, separated by <osep> (a space by default). <pattern> is a wildcard pattern matched against the topic name; use * for every topic.

textsearch() returns the names of the topics whose text contains <pattern>, ignoring case, separated by <osep>. * and ? in <pattern> are wildcards.

textfile(), textentries() and textsearch() return #-1 NO SUCH FILE for a <type> that is not a text file category, and #-1 PERMISSION DENIED for an administrator-only one (ahelp) to anyone who is not a wizard or royalty.

textfile examples: listing and reading help topics

Examples

A pattern’s parentheses are escaped, so they reach textentries() rather than being read as a function call:

> think textentries(help, ?who\(\))
cwho() lwho() mwho() nmwho() xwho() zwho()

> think textfile(help, pi\(\))
## pi()
`pi()`

  Returns the value of "pi" (3.14159265358979323846264338327, rounded to the game's float_precision setting).

::: seealso

WILDCARDS
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