collect(group,attribute)

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collect(group,attribute)

A function collect() builds a List by visiting each note described by group and adding the value of the designated attribute to the set. See collect_if() a for a related new operator.

If the collected attribute type is multi-value, i.e. Set or a List type, collect() adds its elements to the result. If the collected attribute is not a Set or List type attribute, but contains a semicolon, quotation mark, or parentheses, the value will be added to the result as a quoted string. The change should correct a variety of confusing edge cases.

group may be any group designator, or group defined by find(). In addition, group may be argument that designates a particular (single) note other than 'this'. collect() omits notes for which $Searchable is false.

attribute can be any expression, but is typically an attribute's name.

For example,

$MyList = collect(children,$Name); 

constructs a set with the name of each child of the note.

For example,

$MyList = collect(children(/agents/books),$Name); 

does the same for children of the note 'books' inside 'agents'.

$MyList = collect(children,$Width * $Height); 

collects a series of numerical values of each child's map icon height/width in Tinderbox map units. Thus if a child had a $Width of 4 and $Height of 2, the collect() result for that item would be 8.

If a list of unique values is required, i.e. a set rather than a list, simply pass the output to a Set attribute. Thus if:

$MyList = collect(children,$FavFruit); $MyList is "Apples;Oranges;Pears;Apples"

$MySet = collect(children,$FavFruit); $MySet is "Apples;Oranges;Pears;"

collect() vs. List/Set.collect()

For working with Lists or Sets of actual values, also see List/Set.collect().