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This is a continued thought from here.

If I have a figure folder hierarchy such as:

./Figures/Apple/a.pdf
./Figures/Apple/b.pdf
./Figures/Apple/c.pdf

./Figures/Banana/a.pdf
./Figures/Banana/b.pdf
./Figures/Banana/c.pdf

Is there any method to string search all paths,
such that in scenarios in which:

\includegraphics{a.pdf}

has duplicates, the user could use a partial path string
to still get the image, such as:

\includegraphics{Figures/Banana/a.pdf}
\includegraphics{/Banana/a.pdf}
\includegraphics{Banana/a.pdf}
\includegraphics{ana/a.pdf}
\includegraphics{a/a.pdf}

All of these should find a unique answer in the search path.

I understand that the full path could get me there,
but in cases where that path is long and could easily change,
it would be nice to only need to extend the string
until it becomes unique.

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  • @DavidCarlisle : Even when not writing the whole word, like with ana and a? I just assumed it wouldn't work without some additional tool.. – kando Jul 6 '17 at 20:46
  • oh sorry I misread no you need the directory name, I'll delete first comment. – David Carlisle Jul 6 '17 at 21:00
  • Figures/Banana/a.pdf Banana/a.pdf and a.pdf should all work if TEXINPUTS includes .// or ./Figures// – David Carlisle Jul 6 '17 at 21:02
  • My first idea would be to use \graphicspath. If that is too repetitive, e.g. because you have too many documents, I would suggest to create shortcuts in the form of symlinks; you can then update in one place only in case your folder locations to actually change. – Michael Palmer Jul 6 '17 at 21:25
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You could indeed use a very large \graphicspath like:

\graphicspath{%
  {Figures/Banana/}{Figures/Banana}{Figures/Banan}{Figures/Bana}{Figures/Ban}{Figures/Ba}{Figures/B}%
  {Figures/Apple/}{Figures/Apple}{Figures/Appl}{Figures/App}{Figures/Ap}{Figures/A}%
  {Figures/}{Figures}%
}

With this a will be found as Figures/Banana/a.pdf very soon, but /Apples/b.pdf will try Figures/Banana//Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Banana/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Banana/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Banan/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Bana/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Ban/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Ba/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/B/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Apples//Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Apples//Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Apples/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Apple/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Appl/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/App/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/Ap/Apples/b.pdf, Figures/A/Apples/b.pdf before it will find Figures//Apples/b.pdf or Figures/Apples/b.pdf.

And if there would be additional sub-folders like Figures/RedApples it could be hard for the user to always have the correct a.pdf. So at the end the suggestion could result in more mess than comfort. I would not do it. Instead I would only use \graphicspath{{Figures/}} and always use \includegraphics{Bananas/a} to have the banana picture and \includegraphics{Apples/a} to get the apple picture.

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