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How to tell FileBoss which Files You Want
Many of FileBoss's powerful tools work on Virtual Folders (collections of files and folders located in across multiple folders and even across multiple drive). To allow highly targeted actions, FileBoss provides a means to specifically include (and exclude) specific groups of files.
Specifying Files to Include and/or Exclude
Including Multiple Paths
Separate multiple paths with the bar character '|'.
To scan the My Documents directory on drive C: and the Temp directory on drive D: enter:
C:\My Documents | D:\Temp
(There is no need to worry about how many paths you enter: the maximum length of this field is over 65,000 characters!)
Including Patterns
If you want files on all of drive D: and in the My Documents and My Installations folders on drive C: enter the following.
D:\ | C:\My *s
(Of course, the entry C:\My * would include all folders in the root of drive C: which began with My then a space and end with an s.)
The use of a wild card in an included path is restricted to the last element of the path. For instance, the following examples will not work:
D:\*\Backup
C:\My *\*
C:\Program Files\Iront*\FileBoss
But the following will:
C:\My *s
(It would return files in folders C:\My Videos and C:\My Pictures if present.)
To search both the Normal and Nermal directories on drive D: you could enter either:
D:\Normal|D:\Nermal
or
D:\N?rmal
Excluding Folders
Specific folders can be excluded from the search by preceding the folder with the minus sign, '-'. If the name of the folder actually begins with a minus sign, simply type another minus sign first, e.g. "--My Folder".
Consider the following example:
C:\My Documents | -Temp | -Backup | D:\
Paths to be excluded can contain the normal wildcard characters, * and ?. (Use full paths, e.g. C:\house\pictures) to avoid excluding all paths, e.g. every folder named 'pictures'. This can be especially important when using wildcards.)
Note that the order of the entries is ignored: in the above example any Temp and Backup folders will be ignored on drive D: as well in C:\My Documents. To exclude those directories only on drive C: enter the following:
C:\My Documents | -C:\*\Temp | -C:\*\Backup | D:\
Using Wildcards for Folders to be Excluded
Using wildcards in folders to be excluded is almost exactly the same as it is to use them in paths to be scanned. For instance:
C:\|-C:\C*s
Would search all of drive C: except for files and folders in and below any root folders beginning with a 'C' and ending in 's'.
Specifying Folders to Include and/or Exclude in a search
Specifying which Files & Folders
Enter the names or name patterns of files
Leaving the field empty is the same as specifying a single asterisk (*) or the traditional (*.*) meaning include all files.
Multiple File Patterns
Separate multiple patterns with the bar character (|).
Wildcards in File Patterns
The common wildcard characters (*) and (?) can be used when specifying groups of file to be included.
The entry *.tmp | *.bak | ~* will find all files with the extension tmp and bak as well as all files beginning with the tilde character (~).
Excluding Files and Groups of Files
Specific files and groups of files can be excluded from the search by preceding the files with a minus sign, (-). If the name actually begins with a minus sign, simply put another in front of it, e.g. --notations.txt.
To create a Virtual Folder that includes all files except temporary and backup files you could enter
-*.tmp | -*.bak | -~*
(Note that there is no *.* or just * in the beginning. Remember that if there is no include specification then *.* (all) is assumed.
For example the these two patterns are equivalent: -*.zip and *.* | -*.zip (include all files except those with the zip extension).
Ref: DOC_GENERAL_INC_EXC_FILE_SPECS
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