Selector operator: Word/phrase DOESN'T appear at start/end of compared value (extension of the `!=` operator)

[SwimToWin]

Request to have a selector operator that allows me to filter out results that do not begin with a specified comparison value. For instance like so:

• `^!=`
• `$!=` (nice to have-addition)
• ... think of it as an extension of the `!=` operator.

Consider these use cases:

In the Admin Page Editor I want to show the field "Summary" only when the page path doesn't start with "/foo/" (preferably not using LIKE to do the comparison). Selectors don't allow checking the root parent for a path (as I recall, that used to be possible, I might be wrong though). Filtering out the field might be done with these Selector operators:

• path^!=/foo/
• path^!=/foo/|/bar/|/baz/

Result:

• Page path: /foo/ and /foo/one/two/
  • "Summary" field is not shown.
• Page path: /bar/ and /bar/one/
  • "Summary" field is shown.

See also the Selectors documentation

https://processwire.com/docs/selectors/
https://cheatsheet.processwire.com/selectors/

• `^=` - Starts with phrase/text
  • Word or phrase appears at start of compared value.
• `$=` - Ends with phrase/text
  • Word or phrase appears at end of compared value.
• `^!=` - Starts doesn't with phrase/text (if/when this request is implemented)
  • Word or phrase doesn't appears at start of compared value.
• `$!=` - Ends doesn't with phrase/text (if/when this request is implemented)
  • Word or phrase doesn't appears at end of compared value.

[Robin S]

51 minutes ago, SwimToWin said:

Request to have a selector operator that allows me to filter out results that do not begin with a specified comparison value.

Generally speaking this is already possible. The syntax is:

!your_field_name^=foo

Paths are a special case though because these are only searchable when the PagePaths module is installed and that module doesn't support this kind of negation:

 

But I don't think this actually matters because there is a dedicated selector option for when you want to find pages that do or do not have a particular ancestor, and that is "has_parent": https://processwire.com/docs/selectors/#finding2

So rather than needing anything like...

1 hour ago, SwimToWin said:

path^!=/foo/|/bar/|/baz/

...you can instead do...

has_parent!=/foo/|/bar/|/baz/