Filtering Files

Setting file filters with the command bar

Many find the fastest way to set filename filters is with the command bar as shown below.

Press F8 to show the command bar (or set the cursor in the command bar if it is already displayed), type the show followed by the filter(s) and hitting the Enter key.

Showing multiple file patterns

For instance typing

     show *.jpg ; *.bmp ; *.tif 

will display all files with jpg, bmp or tif extensions. Note that multiple file patterns can be entered separated with a semi-colon, comma, or the bar character ( ; , | ).

     show My Trip*.jpeg 

will show all files begining with My Trip and ending with .jpeg.

Excluding file patterns

You can also exclude files matching patterns, just precede the pattern with a minus sign.

     show -*.bak ; -*.tmp ; -~* 

will hide all backup and temp files and files beginning with the  tilde (~) character.

Special commands:

   show all  Shows everything, i.e. restores default display mode

   show folders on   Displays any available folders

   show folders off   Hides all folders

Hint: Hitting F8 twice will set the focus to the command bar and place the cursor at the end of the current entry.

To create a new filter

• Click arrow to the right of the filter button:
• Select the first menu item, Add Filter
• Type in the new filter such as *.bmp or D*.bmp | H*.bmp (remember you can use more than one file spec just separate them with the bar character (|). You can also enter file specs to exclude certain types of files just precede the file spec with a minus sign (-), e.g. -*.jpeg | -*.jpg would prevent any jpeg files from being displayed.
     or
• Choose a filter from the list at the main menu item Explore > Edit Filename Filters... where you can add, delete, re-arrange and edit filename filters.·

To activate the last filter used

• Click the Filter button
• or select Explore > Filename Filter On from the main menu.
• (Note that both the menu item and the toolbar button will change when a filter is active.)
• Click the button or select the menu item again to turn the filter off.·

To select a different filter

• Click arrow to the right of the filter button:
• Select a filter from the pop down list.
     or
• Choose a filter from the list at the main menu item Explore > Select Filename Filter >

When Filename Filters are Active·

When a filename filter is active the first line in the Explore View will show you what filter is active.

Hints:

You can Hide all the Folders in the Contents Window by:

Clicking the Hide Folders Button button: (note that hiding folders is a toggled state, i.e. issuing the command doesn't just hide the current folders it will keep all folders hidden, even as you move around the file system, until the command is issued again)

Restricts files displayed in the Explore Views

to files you explicitly tell FileBoss to display or excludes files you don't want to see

Filters can have multiple file types and filename patterns to

specify which files should be included and/or excluded. For instance you could create a filter that just displayed the graphic files your are interested in (e.g. *.bmp | *.jpeg | *.gif will only display files with the extensions bmp, jpeg or gif) or exclude files you don't care about (e.g. -~* | -*.tmp | -*.bak will not display any files beginning with a tilde or having a tmp or bak extension, the minus sign before the filespec tells FileBoss to exclude matching files) or even both together (e.g. *.bmp | *.jpeg | *.gif |-~* will only display bmp, jpeg and gif files, but only if the filename does not start with the tilde character).

Filters are Persistent

they are stored by FileBoss from one session to another

Filters are never more that two clicks away

making them easy to turn on and off as needed

Filters are editable

making them easy to adjust and reuse

Advanced Filters are also available

Advanced filters allow you to view or exclude files based on names, sizes, attributes, file times, name and path lengths and even whether or not the files contain text that you specify.