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Name filters are patterns describing the types of file/directory names to be included/excluded in the comparison. ExamDiff Pro will compare only those files/directories whose names match at least one pattern in the include filter, but do not match any of the patterns in the exclude filters. Pattern in the include and exclude filter must be separated by commas.

You can use the conventional DOS wildcard characters ('?' to match a single character or '*' to match any number of characters) to specify these types. For example, d?n* and *.cpp are acceptable filter types.

By default only names are matched against the filter. In order to match full paths of files/directories, prefix filters with the ‘:’ character (which will be ignored during matching); For instance, a name filter *file* will match against c:\xyz\abc\file1.txt and c:\xyz\abc\file2.txt files, while a path filter :*file* will in addition match against c:\xyz\new_files\abc.txt (note new_files in the path). A common use of path filters is to exclude or include files based on subdirectories they are located in; for this use the form :*\subdir\*.

There are two more special characters that the name filter lists use: '|' and '/'. Filters can be disabled by prefixing them with a '|' character (which will be ignored during matching and must be placed before a ':' character). Use '/' in place of commas in filter names.

The include and exclude filter together make up a filter set. The Manage combobox can be used to select between different preinstalled and user-defined filter sets. The following filter set management commands are available (when the arrow button on the right of the combo box is clicked):

• Edit Filter
  Launch the Include/Exclude Filters dialog.
  
  
• New Filter
  Create a new filter set, optionally by cloning an existing one.
  
  
• Delete Filter
  Delete the selected filter set.
  
  
• Rename Filter
  Rename the selected filter set.
  
  

The Date filter, if enabled, compares files only if their Last Modified date falls within the specified limits. The Date filter gives you three options: you can either disable the Date filter, only compare files whose date falls between two set dates, or only compare files that are not older than a certain age.

The Size filter, if enabled, compares files only if their size falls between the upper and lower limits. Both the upper and lower limits may be enabled or disabled by checking or unchecking the checkbox next to them, respectively.

Note that date and size filters apply only to files, not to directories, and if a file in one pane is compared, the matching file (if any) in the opposite pane will be compared as well.