Filter

Key:

Field Description
Name The name of a filter.
Top Directory The top directory to which this filter is applied. Filtering rules will be applied to all files and/or directories under this directory.
All Hard Disk Drives Select all local hard drives as the top directory automatically.
Apply To Define whether to apply the filtering rule to files and/or directories.
Pattern Matching It defines the filtering rules of a filter. A filtering rule can be one of the following types;
Starts With Include/Exclude all files/directories with name starting with a certain pattern.
Contains Include/Exclude all files/directories with name containing a certain pattern.
Ends With Include / Exclude all files / directories with name ending with a certain pattern.
Regular Expression Include/Exclude all files/directories with name matching a regular expression.
Filter Mode Defines whether you want to include or exclude matched files into/from the backup set. Also, for those unmatched files, you can choose to exclude (if include filter type) or include (if exclude filter type) them into/from the backup set.

Backup Filter is a set of user defined criteria to include or exclude directories and files as backup source of a backup set.

There are some basic rules regarding backup filters:

  1. Filters are applied in creation order.
  2. Inclusion or exclusion made by filter takes precedence over backup source selections.

To set up a backup filter:

  1. Slide the switch to right hand side to turn on the filter.
  2. Click on the [+] to add a new filter, or click on a filter to modify the filter setting.

To configure a filter:

  1. Enter name of the filter.
  2. Select the top directory on where the filter applied from. By default, all hard disk will be choosed.
  3. Select the option apply the filter to "File" and/or "Directory".
  4. Enter the matching pattern by text or unix-style regular expression. (refer to the example)
  5. Enter the matching pattern, separate the pattern with ",".
  6. Enter the filter mode, "Include matched" or "Excluded matched".
  7. Enter the option, "Exclude all others" or "Include all others.
  8. Click [OK] if you want to save the setting.

To remove a filter:

  1. Select the filter.
  2. On the bottom left, click the "Delete this backup filter".

Background information

Pattern Matching

It defines the filtering rules of a filter. A filtering rule can be one of the following types:

[Starts With]
Include/Exclude all files/directories with name starting with a certain pattern.

Example:
You can use B* to match all file with name starting with a B character.

[Contains]
Include/Exclude all files/directories with name containing a certain pattern.

Example:
You can use *B* to match all files with name containing with a B character.

[Ends With]
Include / Exclude all files / directories with name ending with a certain pattern.

Example:
You can use *.doc to match all files with name ending with .doc (all Word Documents)

Regular Expression

Include/Exclude all files/directories with name matching a regular expression.

To add a new pattern, press the [Add] button in the [Pattern Matching] area.

Note: Backup filter is case sensitive.

Filter Mode - Defines whether you want to include or exclude matched files into/from the backup set. Also, for those unmatched files, you can choose to exclude (if include filter type) or include (if exclude filter type) them into/from the backup set.

*The availability of features listed above may be service provider dependent. If a feature is not available, please check with your service provider for further details and availability.

Here is a list of examples with different filter settings.

Example 1:
To backup only Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents in the document directory (e.g. C:\My Documents), setup the backup filter as follows:

Top Directory = C:\My Documents
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = End With
Matching Patterns = *.doc, *.xls, *.ppt
Filter Mode = Include
Exclude all others = True

Example 2:
To backup all files, excluding all *.exe, *.dll and *.tmp, in C:\Application, setup the backup filter as follows.

Top Directory = C:\Applicaitons
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = End With
Matching Patterns = *.exe, *.dll, *.tmp
Filter Mode = Exclude
Include all others = True

Example 3:
If C:\ was selected as backup source, to exclude all images (e.g. *.jpg and *.gif) from the backup source selection, setup the backup filter as follows.

Top Directory = C:\
Apply to = File (true)
Matching Type = End With
Matching Patterns = *.jpg, *.gif
Filter Mode = Exclude
Include all others = false
Note that the [Include all others] setting is not enabled because it is not necessary to include all other file types under C:\ into the backup set.

Example 4:
To include everything, except the log directory, under C:\Applications, setup the backup filter as follows.

Top Directory = C:\Applications
Apply To = Directory (true)
Matching Type = Regular Expression
Matching Patterns = ^log$
Filter Mode = Exclude
Include all others = True

Example 5:
To include all directories named log from the backup set files with file name starting with B and ending with *.doc under C:\My Documents, the filter backup can be setup as follows.

Top Directory = C:\My Documents
Apply To = File (true)
Matching Type = Regular Expression
Matching Patterns = ^B.*\.doc$
Filter Mode = Include
Exclude all others = True