Get idfobjects by regex

[crossingchen]

I'm trying to get all the schedule objects in an idf by using idf1.idfobjects["SCHEDULE:COMPACT"] and idf1.idfobjects["SCHEDULE:CONSTANT"]. Is there a way to get all schedules using something like idf1.idfobjects["SCHEDULE:"] to match all object types start with "SCHEDULE:" instead of having the specify the full string of the object type?

[santoshphilip]

@crossingchen There is no builtin way to do this.
idf1.idfobjects is a dictionary SCHEDULE:COMPACT is a key in the dictionary. You need to use the full key.

I just played around with some code

import eppy
fname = "/Applications/EnergyPlus-23-1-0/ExampleFiles/5Zone_IdealLoadsAirSystems_ReturnPlenum.idf"
idf = eppy.openidf(fname)


# using standard loops
scheduleobjects = []
for key in idf.idfobjects.keys():
    if key.startswith('SCHEDULE'):
        for obj in idf.idfobjects[key]:
            scheduleobjects.append(obj)
        
# using list comprehension
scheduleobjects_again = [obj  for key in idf.idfobjects.keys() 
            if key.startswith('SCHEDULE') 
                for obj in idf.idfobjects[key]]

You can write a function to do this
Maybe the function can take a regex ?

[crossingchen]

Sounds good. Let me try and create a PR.

[santoshphilip]

What do you think the function should be called ?

[crossingchen]

Thanks. I looked into this a bit and it's probably best to use a function in my script as you suggested.

[santoshphilip]

I would say - Best to start with a function in your script.
The step back and take a look at it to see if it makes sense to make it a part of eppy.

If it does. make sense, we can look what to call it, how the code fits within eppy etc.