created: 20161015114118243
modified: 20161015151555834
tags: TiddlyWikiFolders
title: tiddlywiki.files Files
type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki

! Introduction

A `tiddlywiki.files` JSON file in a sub-folder within [[a TiddlyWiki folder|TiddlyWikiFolders]] overrides the usual logic for recursively scanning the folder for tiddler files. Instead, the `tiddlywiki.files` file specifies instructions for loading tiddlers from specific files and folders.

The format of the file is an object with two optional properties:

* ''tiddlers'' - an array of objects describing external files with the ability to override or modify any of the fields read from the file
* ''directories'' - an array of objects describing external directories, a filter determining which files within those directories should be processed, and the ability to override or modify any of the fields read from the file

Note that significant enhancements to `tiddlywiki.files` processing were introduced in [[Release 5.1.14]].

!! Field overrides

Both the ''tiddlers'' and ''directories'' sections of `tiddlywiki.files` files include the ability to override or customise the values of fields with a `fields` object.

Each field can be specified as either a ''string'' or ''array'' value to be assigned directly to the field, or <<.from-version "5.1.14">> an ''object'' describing how to generate the value for the field. The object contains the following properties:

* ''source'' - (optional) a string specifying the source value for the field. If not specified, the existing value is used
** //filename// the filename of the file containing the tiddler
** //basename// the filename of the file containing the tiddler without any extension
** //extname// the extension of the filename of the file containing the tiddler
** //created// the creation date/time of the file containing the tiddler
** //modified// the modification date/time of the file containing the tiddler
* ''prefix'' - (optional) a string to be prepended to the value of the field
* ''suffix'' - (optional) a string to be appended to the value of the field

! Tiddlers section

The file specifications in the `tiddlers` array support the following properties:

* ''file'': (required) the absolute or relative path to the file containing the tiddler data (relative paths are interpreted relative to the path of the `tiddlywiki.files` file)
* ''isTiddlerFile'': (optional) if `true`, the file will be treated as a [[tiddler file|TiddlerFiles]] and deserialised to extract the tiddlers. Otherwise, the raw content of the file is assigned to the `text` field without any parsing
* ''fields'': (optional) an object containing values that override or customise the fields provided in the tiddler file (see above)
* ''prefix'' & ''suffix'': (optional) strings to be prefixed and suffixed to the tiddler `text` field
*> Note that providing a ''prefix'' here is equivalent to setting the `text` field of the ''fields'' object to `{"prefix":"<prefixvalue>"}`.

! Directories section

Directory specifications in the `directories` array may take the following forms:

* a ''string'' literal, specifying the absolute or relative path to the directory containing the tiddler files (relative paths are interpreted relative to the path of the `tiddlywiki.files` file). The directory is recursively searched for tiddler files
* <<.from-version "5.1.14">> an ''object'' with the following properties:
** ''path'' - (required) the absolute or relative path to the directory containing the tiddler files (relative paths are interpreted relative to the path of the `tiddlywiki.files` file). Note that the directory is not recursively searched; sub-directories are ignored
** ''filesRegExp'' - (optional) a [[regular expression]] that matches the filenames of the files that should be processed within the directory
** ''isTiddlerFile'' - (required) if `true`, the file will be treated as a [[tiddler file|TiddlerFiles]] and deserialised to extract the tiddlers. Otherwise, the raw content of the file is assigned to the `text` field without any parsing
** ''fields'' - (required) an object containing values that override or customise the fields provided in the tiddler file (see above)