# File Operators

File operators are most often used with merge when needing to merge specific files together. Note that when doing this, you will need to use `eval-all` to ensure all yaml documents are loaded into memory before performing the merge (as opposed to `eval` which runs the expression once per document).

Note that the `fileIndex` operator has a short alias of `fi`.

## Merging files

Note the use of eval-all to ensure all documents are loaded into memory.

```bash
yq eval-all 'select(fi == 0) * select(filename == "file2.yaml")' file1.yaml file2.yaml
```

## Get filename

Given a sample.yml file of:

```yaml
a: cat
```

then

```bash
yq 'filename' sample.yml
```

will output

```yaml
sample.yml
```

## Get file index

Given a sample.yml file of:

```yaml
a: cat
```

then

```bash
yq 'file_index' sample.yml
```

will output

```yaml
0
```

## Get file indices of multiple documents

Given a sample.yml file of:

```yaml
a: cat
```

And another sample another.yml file of:

```yaml
a: cat
```

then

```bash
yq eval-all 'file_index' sample.yml another.yml
```

will output

```yaml
0
1
```

## Get file index alias

Given a sample.yml file of:

```yaml
a: cat
```

then

```bash
yq 'fi' sample.yml
```

will output

```yaml
0
```


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://mikefarah.gitbook.io/yq/operators/file-operators.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
