simpler interface to exclude a path from searh

[Leopoldus]

Tab "Exclude Folders" is convenient enough to exclude permanently from searching those folders you do never search in. But what if you need to exclude several folders from the one current search only? You have to add all those folders from many different drives and paths to "Excluded Foders" list one by one, then after search is made you will have to remove then from this list one by one again... Not very easy task, is it?

Is it possible to include folders (paths) in "Name" dialog interface exactly the same way as files? E.g. if you need to search file ABC.doc everywhere in your sistem besides in those folders, which include a word image in their names, you could enter in "Name" dialog:
abc.doc & !image\.
I hope that it is not very difficult programming task. Regular expressions use this symbol \, but you can use double slash \\ in regular expressions.

[admin]

abc.doc & !image\.

Have you tried to use the Check Full Path option? That way you can achieve what you want in most cases (but not when searched file name and excluded folder name are the same). You don't have to add the backslash then.

[Leopoldus]

That way you can achieve what you want in most cases (but not when searched file name and excluded folder name are the same).

Indeed that is the most common case for me (and may be not only for me). My first example was not good enough. Say, you have folder C:\John Smith's poetry\ with many files and some John Smith's poems.doc elswere at your system as well. It is very probable that you may wish to find all those poems which are speade over your system - besides those are concentrated in this folder, may be in order to move them to this folder too. So "Check full path" option does not solve the problem.

[admin]

Ok, I added the possibility to have backslashes in the search terms (you must escape them by \). Your search term now should look like this:

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!C:\\John Smith's poetry\\ & John Smith's poems.doc

+ Check Full Path

[Leopoldus]

Ok, I added the possibility to have backslashes in the search terms (you must escape them by \).

Thanks, Donald!
But I'm afraid I do not understand this interface.
1) Do you mean, that all slashes in the excluded pathes have to be replaced by double slashes or only some of them?

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!C:\Documents\Poems\\John Smith's poetry\\

2) Is it possible to enter the whole path or only a part of it (as it is with files)?

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!John Smith's poetry\\ = !C:\Documents\Poems\\John Smith's poetry\\

3) Is it possible to exclude in this way only one or more paths?

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!John Smith's poetry\\ & !John Smith's prose\\  & .....

4) Does the order of searh experession elementsit means anything?

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John Smith's poems.doc & !C:\\John Smith's poetry\\

Hope you give a bit explanation in beta versions history and/or in Help document.[/code]

[admin]

Well, all I did is: added the possibility to have backslashes in the search terms (escaped by \). Knowing this you should be able to answer all of your questions yourself. Here are my answers:

1) all slashes
2) whole path or only a part of it
3) more paths
4) order does NOT mean anything

[Leopoldus]

Knowing this you should be able to answer all of your questions yourself.

I was able to answer, but I whished to check myself. Thank you!
BTW, once more question: how about regular expressions? Have they now as well this option to exclude paths?

[admin]

BTW, once more question: how about regular expressions? Have they now as well this option to exclude paths?

No, unfortunately not, because the combination of RegExp and Boolean logic is not supported.

[Leopoldus]

cat & !cat\\
would find all files "*cat*" in the current search location but not the ones in the subfolder(s) "*cat".

OK, but what about "*cat*" or "cat*"? Is there any way to exclude those paths, which contain fragment cat in the beginning or in the middle of the folder name, but not end with it?

[admin]

beginning: *\\cat*\\*
middle: *\\*cat*\\*

[Leopoldus]

beginning: *\\cat*\\*
middle: *\\*cat*\\*

Thanks! IMHO this interface is rather non-intuitive and a bit to compex for inputting, but is works!

[admin]

With the next BETA, it will be sufficient to enter:
beginning: \\cat*\\
middle: \\*cat*\\

[Leopoldus]

With the next BETA, it will be sufficient to enter:
beginning: \\cat*\\
middle: \\*cat*\\

Thanks again. But what do you think about
beginning: cat*\\
middle: *cat*\\
I mean that you don't need the preceeding slashes to distinguish a folder from a file. TrackerV could know, that every sequence of letters and asterics is always a folder name, if it ends with double slash.

[admin]

cat*\\ --> internally *cat*\*, finds beginning and middle (*)
*cat*\\ --> internally *cat*\, finds nothing

(*) that's from v3.60.0151 onwards!