Query all notes based on links to other notes

[gbozzetti]

Hi everybody,

I can't create a query to output results based on the following scenario:

Folder A has some notes linked to other notes in Folder B, Folder C, Folder D (a single note in Folder A can have multiple links to other notes in other folders)

I would like to generate a list of notes in Folder A based on the links contained in the notes, for example:

SELECT all notes FROM Folder A WHERE notes contain a link to Folder B

Thank you for your help!

[AnnaKornfeldSimpson]

Check out the file.outlinks field. I think your query would be something like LIST FROM "Folder A" WHERE any(filter(file.outlinks, (outlink) => contains(meta(outlink).path, "Folder B"))) but folks with more dataview experience might be able to get something more succinct. Functions reference for any filter contains meta(link).path

Edit: Typo fixed thanks to AB1908 comment below, thanks for catching that!
Edit2: Thanks gbozzetti for catching another error!

[AB1908]

Sure thing. I also think an idea like list filter(file.inlinks for notes from A) from FolderB is a decent idea but doesn't give the desired results with a List command.

[gbozzetti]

Thank you!

I get a Parsing failed error:

Expected one of the following: 

'(', 'null', boolean, date, duration, file link, list ('[1, 2, 3]'), negated field, number, object ('{ a: 1, b: 2 }'), string, variable

[gbozzetti]

I've found the error, outlinks needs the parenthesis, filter(file.outlinks, outlink => should be filter(file.outlinks, (outlink) =>

[AB1908]

You're right, I missed that.

[AnnaKornfeldSimpson]

Ack right DQL is strict about that! Apologies and thanks for posting the fix!

[mnvwvnm]

I know, it's a late reply:
But this more "direct" query doesn't solve the request?

LIST
FROM "Folder A"
WHERE contains(file.outlinks.file.folder, "Folder B")

[gbozzetti]

HI @mnvwvnm,

yeah, that query works as well, thank you!

I have another question: when I use TABLE and "as" to define the alias of the colum, like

TABLE file.tags as tags
FROM "Folder A"

is there a way to reuse the alias in where clause or filters etc?

TABLE file.tags as tags
FROM "Folder A"
WHERE contains(tags, "something")

[mnvwvnm]

is there a way to reuse the alias in where clause or filters etc?

Hi.
In effect, I think the column expressions are the last thing to be considered by the code.
This means that it works in contrary way of your intent: if you define an alias in commands as FLATTEN or GROUP BY then you can use them in column expression. Not the contrary.
Example:

TABLE WITHOUT ID F1 AS "Field", rows.file.link AS "Journal"
FROM "Folder A"
GROUP BY field1 AS F1

The "alias" as TABLE file.tags as tags are simple column names, not real alias.

[mariomui]

@mnvwvnm The column expressions comment you made saved me a lot of time. That should definitely be in the docs as it is different behavior than what most ppl would expect.

Column expressions boil down to a single value accessed nominally by a say 'JOURNAL' but the WHERE clause is invoked before the expressions are evaluated.
The transformation CLAUSE, FLATTEN is a lot more useful than GROUP BY, piping expressions to a WHERE clause.