findFile.m

function [file, idx, pid] = findFile(files, searchStr, exact)
% main workhorse file for searching for strings    
% [file, idx, pid] = findFile(files, searchStr)
% gets the index for a file in [files] that matches a search string
% inputs:
% 	files 
%       [cell array] of strings to compare searchStr to
%           [string] path to directory
% 	searchStr 
%           [string] string to compare <files> to
%       [cell-array] of strings to compare
%   exact  [boolean] flag for wheter searchStr has to match exactly
% outputs:
%   file 
%       [cell-array] of strings that gives the file names that match
%                    searchStr. If searchStr is a cell-array, file will
%                    return the files that match all of the searchStr
%                    values
%   idx
%           [double] vector of indices into files
%   pid     
%       [cell-array] of the char index for files

% 2015 jly merged Jake and Leor's findFile versions

if ~exist('exact', 'var')
    exact = false;
end

if ~iscell(files) && isdir(files)
    files = dir(files);
    files = {files(:).name};
    files = files(:);
end

if nargin < 2 || isempty(searchStr)
    searchStr = '.mat';
end

% enforce search str to be a cell array
if ischar(searchStr)
    searchStr = {searchStr};
end

nStr = numel(searchStr);

% for loop is faster than cellfun
nFiles = numel(files);
pid = cell(nFiles,nStr);
if exact
    for kFile = 1:nFiles
        for kStr = 1:nStr
            tmp = strcmp(files{kFile}, searchStr{kStr});
            tmp(tmp==0)=[];
            pid{kFile, kStr} = tmp;
        end
    end
else
    for kFile = 1:nFiles
        for kStr = 1:nStr
            pid{kFile,kStr} = strfind(files{kFile}, searchStr{kStr});
        end
    end
end

idx  = find(all(~cellfun(@isempty, pid),2));
file = files(idx);