Bug: tp.file.exists in Obsidian v1.0.0 always returns false for files;

[jlharri]

Obsidian version 1.0.0, installer build v0.15.8
Templater version 0.11.13

I've tried multiple tests and tp.file.exists returns false for all files. It will return true for a folder.

Here's a test template I created and its output. Note that I've tried other hard-coded file names. I thought using tp.file.title might be the most obvious example of a failure.

<%*
console.log("--------");
console.log("Testing Templater tp.file.exists");
console.log("Obsidian version 1.0.0 - installer version v0.15.8");
console.log("Templater Version "+app.internalPlugins.app.plugins.manifests["templater-obsidian"].minAppVersion);
console.log("");

fn = tp.file.title;
console.log("tp.file.title <"+fn+"> exists? "+(await tp.file.exists(fn)));
fn = tp.file.folder(false);
console.log("tp.file.folder <"+fn+"> exists? "+(await tp.file.exists(fn)));
fn = "bogus file name";
console.log("Bogus file <"+fn+"> exists? "+(await tp.file.exists(fn)));
%>

Output copied from JS console:

Testing Templater tp.file.exists
Obsidian version 1.0.0 - installer version v0.15.8
Templater Version 0.11.13

tp.file.title <Test Templater Doc> exists? false
tp.file.folder <Test> exists? true
Bogus file <bogus file name> exists? false

btw, great plugin! It'd be nice to have the file.exists test part of tp.file.create_new as an optional parameter create_if_new.

Jerry

[AB1908]

You need to await the exist() I think.

[jlharri]

I do...it's in the code snippet above.

I figured it out. The documentation isn't clear about whether I can pass in just that name of a file, the name+extension, or the fully qualified path relative to the Vault. It's the last one. For example,

For a file located at Test/Templater Tests/Test Doc.md :

• tp.file.exists("Test Doc") => false
• tp.file.exists("Test Doc.md") => false
• tp.file.exists("Test/Templater Tests/Test Doc.md") => true

So I put this into my template and it works:

fn = tp.file.folder(true)+"/"+tp.file.title+".md";
console.log("tp.file.title <"+fn+"> exists? "+(await tp.file.exists(fn)));

I hate that I have to hard-code the extension, but I realize most files in Obsidian are markdown. I also don't like hard-coding "/" in either since this may need to change for Obsidian running on Windows. There may be Obsidian utility functions that will abstract this.

I suggest updating the documentation to be clearer about what is needed.

[AB1908]

Would you mind opening a PR to do that?

[jlharri]

Of course...I should've thought of that myself.