Added an alternative version of File::findChildFiles that returns the results array rather than it being an out-parameter. In almost all cases using this new version will make your code smaller and cleaner, as you can see from all the changes in this commit!

examples/Demo/Source/Demos/MDIDemo.cpp

@@ -234,9 +234,8 @@ private:
 
     void addExistingNotes()
     {
-        Array<File> files;
-        File::getSpecialLocation (File::userDesktopDirectory).findChildFiles (files, File::findFiles, false, "*.jnote");
-        createNotesForFiles (files);
+        createNotesForFiles (File::getSpecialLocation (File::userDesktopDirectory)
+                                .findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false, "*.jnote"));
     }
 
     JUCE_DECLARE_NON_COPYABLE_WITH_LEAK_DETECTOR (MDIDemo)

extras/Projucer/Source/Application/jucer_Application.cpp

@@ -858,15 +858,14 @@ void ProjucerApplication::deleteLogger()
 
     if (logger != nullptr)
     {
-        Array<File> logFiles;
-        logger->getLogFile().getParentDirectory().findChildFiles (logFiles, File::findFiles, false);
+        auto logFiles = logger->getLogFile().getParentDirectory().findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false);
 
         if (logFiles.size() > maxNumLogFilesToKeep)
         {
-            Array <FileWithTime> files;
+            Array<FileWithTime> files;
 
-            for (int i = 0; i < logFiles.size(); ++i)
-                files.addUsingDefaultSort (logFiles.getReference(i));
+            for (auto& f : logFiles)
+                files.addUsingDefaultSort (f);
 
             for (int i = 0; i < files.size() - maxNumLogFilesToKeep; ++i)
                 files.getReference(i).file.deleteFile();

extras/Projucer/Source/Project/jucer_Module.cpp

@@ -555,8 +555,7 @@ String LibraryModule::CompileUnit::getFilenameForProxyFile() const
 
 Array<LibraryModule::CompileUnit> LibraryModule::getAllCompileUnits (ProjectType::Target::Type forTarget) const
 {
-    Array<File> files;
-    getFolder().findChildFiles (files, File::findFiles, false);
+    auto files = getFolder().findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false);
 
     FileSorter sorter;
     files.sort (sorter);

extras/Projucer/Source/ProjectSaving/jucer_ProjectExport_Xcode.h

@@ -2811,10 +2811,7 @@ private:
 
     bool xcuserdataMatchesTargets (const File& xcuserdata) const
     {
-        Array<File> xcschemeManagementPlists;
-        xcuserdata.findChildFiles (xcschemeManagementPlists, File::findFiles, true, "xcschememanagement.plist");
-
-        for (auto& plist : xcschemeManagementPlists)
+        for (auto& plist : xcuserdata.findChildFiles (File::findFiles, true, "xcschememanagement.plist"))
             if (! xcschemeManagementPlistMatchesTargets (plist))
                 return false;
 

extras/Projucer/Source/ProjectSaving/jucer_ProjectSaver.h

@@ -199,30 +199,19 @@ public:
     {
         if (source.isDirectory() && dest.createDirectory())
         {
-            Array<File> subFiles;
-            source.findChildFiles (subFiles, File::findFiles, false);
-
-            for (int i = 0; i < subFiles.size(); ++i)
+            for (auto& f : source.findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false))
             {
-                const File f (subFiles.getReference(i));
-                const File target (dest.getChildFile (f.getFileName()));
+                auto target = dest.getChildFile (f.getFileName());
                 filesCreated.add (target);
 
                 if (! f.copyFileTo (target))
                     return false;
             }
 
-            Array<File> subFolders;
-            source.findChildFiles (subFolders, File::findDirectories, false);
-
-            for (int i = 0; i < subFolders.size(); ++i)
-            {
-                const File f (subFolders.getReference(i));
-
+            for (auto& f : source.findChildFiles (File::findDirectories, false))
                 if (! shouldFolderBeIgnoredWhenCopying (f))
                     if (! copyFolder (f, dest.getChildFile (f.getFileName())))
                         return false;
-            }
 
             return true;
         }

extras/Projucer/Source/Settings/jucer_AppearanceSettings.cpp

@@ -80,8 +80,7 @@ void AppearanceSettings::refreshPresetSchemeList()
     writeDefaultSchemeFile (BinaryData::colourscheme_dark_xml,  "Default (Dark)");
     writeDefaultSchemeFile (BinaryData::colourscheme_light_xml, "Default (Light)");
 
-    Array<File> newSchemes;
-    getSchemesFolder().findChildFiles (newSchemes, File::findFiles, false, String ("*") + getSchemeFileSuffix());
+    auto newSchemes = getSchemesFolder().findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false, String ("*") + getSchemeFileSuffix());
 
     if (newSchemes != presetSchemeFiles)
     {

extras/binarybuilder/Source/Main.cpp

@@ -146,11 +146,10 @@ int main (int argc, char* argv[])
               << " from files in " << sourceDirectory.getFullPathName()
               << "..." << std::endl << std::endl;
 
-    Array<File> files;
-    sourceDirectory.findChildFiles (files, File::findFiles, true,
-                                    (argc > 4) ? argv[4] : "*");
+    auto files = sourceDirectory.findChildFiles (File::findFiles, true,
+                                                 (argc > 4) ? argv[4] : "*");
 
-    if (files.size() == 0)
+    if (files.isEmpty())
     {
         std::cout << "Didn't find any source files in: "
                   << sourceDirectory.getFullPathName() << std::endl << std::endl;

modules/juce_audio_processors/format_types/juce_VSTPluginFormat.cpp

@@ -438,15 +438,14 @@ struct ModuleHandle    : public ReferenceCountedObject
 
                             ok = true;
 
-                            Array<File> vstXmlFiles;
-                            file
-                               #if JUCE_MAC
-                                .getChildFile ("Contents")
-                                .getChildFile ("Resources")
-                               #endif
-                                .findChildFiles (vstXmlFiles, File::findFiles, false, "*.vstxml");
-
-                            if (vstXmlFiles.size() > 0)
+                            auto vstXmlFiles = file
+                                                   #if JUCE_MAC
+                                                    .getChildFile ("Contents")
+                                                    .getChildFile ("Resources")
+                                                   #endif
+                                                    .findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false, "*.vstxml");
+
+                            if (! vstXmlFiles.isEmpty())
                                 vstXml.reset (XmlDocument::parse (vstXmlFiles.getReference(0)));
                         }
                     }

modules/juce_audio_processors/scanning/juce_KnownPluginList.cpp

@@ -204,13 +204,8 @@ void KnownPluginList::scanAndAddDragAndDroppedFiles (AudioPluginFormatManager& f
             {
                 StringArray s;
 
-                {
-                    Array<File> subFiles;
-                    f.findChildFiles (subFiles, File::findFilesAndDirectories, false);
-
-                    for (auto& subFile : subFiles)
-                        s.add (subFile.getFullPathName());
-                }
+                for (auto& subFile : f.findChildFiles (File::findFilesAndDirectories, false))
+                    s.add (subFile.getFullPathName());
 
                 scanAndAddDragAndDroppedFiles (formatManager, s, typesFound);
             }

modules/juce_core/files/juce_File.cpp

@@ -247,13 +247,8 @@ bool File::setReadOnly (const bool shouldBeReadOnly,
     bool worked = true;
 
     if (applyRecursively && isDirectory())
-    {
-        Array<File> subFiles;
-        findChildFiles (subFiles, File::findFilesAndDirectories, false);
-
-        for (auto& f : subFiles)
+        for (auto& f : findChildFiles (File::findFilesAndDirectories, false))
             worked = f.setReadOnly (shouldBeReadOnly, true) && worked;
-    }
 
     return setFileReadOnlyInternal (shouldBeReadOnly) && worked;
 }
@@ -268,13 +263,8 @@ bool File::deleteRecursively() const
     bool worked = true;
 
     if (isDirectory())
-    {
-        Array<File> subFiles;
-        findChildFiles (subFiles, File::findFilesAndDirectories, false);
-
-        for (auto& f : subFiles)
+        for (auto& f : findChildFiles (File::findFilesAndDirectories, false))
             worked = f.deleteRecursively() && worked;
-    }
 
     return deleteFile() && worked;
 }
@@ -321,17 +311,11 @@ bool File::copyDirectoryTo (const File& newDirectory) const
 {
     if (isDirectory() && newDirectory.createDirectory())
     {
-        Array<File> subFiles;
-        findChildFiles (subFiles, File::findFiles, false);
-
-        for (auto& f : subFiles)
+        for (auto& f : findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false))
             if (! f.copyFileTo (newDirectory.getChildFile (f.getFileName())))
                 return false;
 
-        subFiles.clear();
-        findChildFiles (subFiles, File::findDirectories, false);
-
-        for (auto& f : subFiles)
+        for (auto& f : findChildFiles (File::findDirectories, false))
             if (! f.copyDirectoryTo (newDirectory.getChildFile (f.getFileName())))
                 return false;
 
@@ -561,14 +545,18 @@ void File::readLines (StringArray& destLines) const
 }
 
 //==============================================================================
-int File::findChildFiles (Array<File>& results,
-                          const int whatToLookFor,
-                          const bool searchRecursively,
-                          const String& wildCardPattern) const
+Array<File> File::findChildFiles (int whatToLookFor, bool searchRecursively, const String& wildcard) const
+{
+    Array<File> results;
+    findChildFiles (results, whatToLookFor, searchRecursively, wildcard);
+    return results;
+}
+
+int File::findChildFiles (Array<File>& results, int whatToLookFor, bool searchRecursively, const String& wildcard) const
 {
     int total = 0;
 
-    for (DirectoryIterator di (*this, searchRecursively, wildCardPattern, whatToLookFor); di.next();)
+    for (DirectoryIterator di (*this, searchRecursively, wildcard, whatToLookFor); di.next();)
     {
         results.add (di.getFile());
         ++total;
@@ -1062,18 +1050,8 @@ public:
         expect (demoFolder.isDirectory());
         expect (demoFolder.getParentDirectory() == temp);
         expect (temp.isDirectory());
-
-        {
-            Array<File> files;
-            temp.findChildFiles (files, File::findFilesAndDirectories, false, "*");
-            expect (files.contains (demoFolder));
-        }
-
-        {
-            Array<File> files;
-            temp.findChildFiles (files, File::findDirectories, true, "*.folder");
-            expect (files.contains (demoFolder));
-        }
+        expect (temp.findChildFiles (File::findFilesAndDirectories, false, "*").contains (demoFolder));
+        expect (temp.findChildFiles (File::findDirectories, true, "*.folder").contains (demoFolder));
 
         File tempFile (demoFolder.getNonexistentChildFile ("test", ".txt", false));
 

modules/juce_core/files/juce_File.h

@@ -544,28 +544,33 @@ public:
         ignoreHiddenFiles           = 4     /**< Add this flag to avoid returning any hidden files in the results. */
     };
 
-    /** Searches inside a directory for files matching a wildcard pattern.
+    /** Searches this directory for files matching a wildcard pattern.
 
         Assuming that this file is a directory, this method will search it
         for either files or subdirectories whose names match a filename pattern.
         Note that the order in which files are returned is completely undefined!
 
-        @param results                  an array to which File objects will be added for the
-                                        files that the search comes up with
         @param whatToLookFor            a value from the TypesOfFileToFind enum, specifying whether to
                                         return files, directories, or both. If the ignoreHiddenFiles flag
                                         is also added to this value, hidden files won't be returned
         @param searchRecursively        if true, all subdirectories will be recursed into to do
                                         an exhaustive search
         @param wildCardPattern          the filename pattern to search for, e.g. "*.txt"
-        @returns                        the number of results that have been found
+        @returns                        the set of files that were found
 
         @see getNumberOfChildFiles, DirectoryIterator
     */
-    int findChildFiles (Array<File>& results,
-                        int whatToLookFor,
-                        bool searchRecursively,
-                        const String& wildCardPattern = "*") const;
+    Array<File> findChildFiles (int whatToLookFor,
+                                bool searchRecursively,
+                                const String& wildCardPattern = "*") const;
+
+    /** Searches inside a directory for files matching a wildcard pattern.
+        Note that there's a newer, better version of this method which returns the results
+        array, and in almost all cases, you should use that one instead! This one is kept around
+        mainly for legacy code to use.
+    */
+    int findChildFiles (Array<File>& results, int whatToLookFor,
+                        bool searchRecursively, const String& wildCardPattern = "*") const;
 
     /** Searches inside a directory and counts how many files match a wildcard pattern.
 

modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileSearchPath.cpp

@@ -132,6 +132,13 @@ void FileSearchPath::removeNonExistentPaths()
             directories.remove (i);
 }
 
+Array<File> FileSearchPath::findChildFiles (int whatToLookFor, bool recurse, const String& wildcard) const
+{
+    Array<File> results;
+    findChildFiles (results, whatToLookFor, recurse, wildcard);
+    return results;
+}
+
 int FileSearchPath::findChildFiles (Array<File>& results, int whatToLookFor,
                                     bool recurse, const String& wildcard) const
 {

modules/juce_core/files/juce_FileSearchPath.h

@@ -114,10 +114,9 @@ public:
     //==============================================================================
     /** Searches the path for a wildcard.
 
-        This will search all the directories in the search path in order, adding any
-        matching files to the results array.
+        This will search all the directories in the search path in order and return
+        an array of the files that were found.
 
-        @param results                  an array to append the results to
         @param whatToLookFor            a value from the File::TypesOfFileToFind enum, specifying whether to
                                         return files, directories, or both.
         @param searchRecursively        whether to recursively search the subdirectories too
@@ -125,6 +124,15 @@ public:
         @returns the number of files added to the array
         @see File::findChildFiles
     */
+    Array<File> findChildFiles (int whatToLookFor,
+                                bool searchRecursively,
+                                const String& wildCardPattern = "*") const;
+
+    /** Searches the path for a wildcard.
+        Note that there's a newer, better version of this method which returns the results
+        array, and in almost all cases, you should use that one instead! This one is kept around
+        mainly for legacy code to use.
+    */
     int findChildFiles (Array<File>& results,
                         int whatToLookFor,
                         bool searchRecursively,

modules/juce_graphics/native/juce_android_Fonts.cpp

@@ -106,12 +106,8 @@ StringArray Font::findAllTypefaceNames()
 {
     StringArray results;
 
-    Array<File> fonts;
-    File ("/system/fonts").findChildFiles (fonts, File::findFiles, false, "*.ttf");
-
-    for (int i = 0; i < fonts.size(); ++i)
-        results.addIfNotAlreadyThere (fonts.getReference(i).getFileNameWithoutExtension()
-                                        .upToLastOccurrenceOf ("-", false, false));
+    for (auto& f : File ("/system/fonts").findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false, "*.ttf"))
+        results.addIfNotAlreadyThere (f.getFileNameWithoutExtension().upToLastOccurrenceOf ("-", false, false));
 
     return results;
 }
@@ -120,12 +116,8 @@ StringArray Font::findAllTypefaceStyles (const String& family)
 {
     StringArray results ("Regular");
 
-    Array<File> fonts;
-    File ("/system/fonts").findChildFiles (fonts, File::findFiles, false, family + "-*.ttf");
-
-    for (int i = 0; i < fonts.size(); ++i)
-        results.addIfNotAlreadyThere (fonts.getReference(i).getFileNameWithoutExtension()
-                                        .fromLastOccurrenceOf ("-", false, false));
+    for (auto& f : File ("/system/fonts").findChildFiles (File::findFiles, false, family + "-*.ttf"))
+        results.addIfNotAlreadyThere (f.getFileNameWithoutExtension().fromLastOccurrenceOf ("-", false, false));
 
     return results;
 }

modules/juce_gui_basics/filebrowser/juce_FileBrowserComponent.cpp

@@ -577,14 +577,8 @@ void FileBrowserComponent::getDefaultRoots (StringArray& rootNames, StringArray&
     rootPaths.add ({});
     rootNames.add ({});
 
-    Array<File> volumes;
-    File vol ("/Volumes");
-    vol.findChildFiles (volumes, File::findDirectories, false);
-
-    for (int i = 0; i < volumes.size(); ++i)
+    for (auto& volume : File ("/Volumes").findChildFiles (File::findDirectories, false))
     {
-        const File& volume = volumes.getReference(i);
-
         if (volume.isDirectory() && ! volume.getFileName().startsWithChar ('.'))
         {
             rootPaths.add (volume.getFullPathName());