I understand how itemFilter works, but I haven't been able to get itemFilterAttr to work (which I think is the one you need).
Basically, you create an objectFilter node when you execute itemFilter (don't ask why their names are different).
as follows:
mel: itemFilter -byName "lambert"
this creates an objectFilter //result objectFilter7// or something like that.
then you can do:
mel: lsThroughFilter "objectFilter7"
and it should return a long list of all nodes containing 'lambert' anywhere in their names.
Now, there is another such thing for ATTRIBUTES which is k nown as an objectAttrFilter but I still can't get it to work.. it's accessible via the itemFilterAttr command.. yes I know they're all jumbled up.. I'm presently searching through all the maya scripts on my hard drive and not one makes use of this command that I can find.
Please keep posting, I am eager to see the resolution of your query. .hope this little bit helps.
-Alex