FEATURE REQUEST - File List Overrides Exclusions

[TheSQLG0d]

I feel that if a user creates a file list then everything in that list should override any Exclusion that might otherwise eliminate any rows from that file list. In my case I don't care to index all of the crap in my various program files.. folders, so I exclude them using the Exclude Folders functionality. What I DO want to see is all .exe files in those folders. So I made files lists of them and added them via the File Lists functionality. What I got was duplicates of all of the exe files in those folders when I searched. So I excluded the program files... folders in Exclude Folders dialog. And then I lost all files from those folders, including those in my explicit lists.

[void]

I have put on my TODO list to ignore the exclude list when opening a file list.

Thank you for the suggestion.

[void]

Please avoid using filelists and try the following file exclude filter:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Exclude tab on the left.
• Select C:\Program Files and click Remove.
• Select C:\Program Files (x86) and click Remove.
• Set Exclude files to:
  regex:^c:\\program files\\.*(?<!\.exe)$;regex:^c:\\program files (x86)\\.*(?<!\.exe)$
• Click OK.
• Click the File list tab on the left.
• Remove any file lists.
• Click OK.

Using regex look behind, you can exclude all files under C:\Program Files except .exe files.

[TheSQLG0d]

I apologize for the length of this. But I found a small modicum of effort to get something, anything, done - and this was chosen. And while it turned out to be quite the rabbit hole, I am still quite confident that the stuff I mention/layout will provide great user benefit - from either implementation and/or documentation efforts. I will add that even if you just add some or even all of that I mention only in v1.5, those things will still really improve your already-most-helpful application!!

1. Thank you for adding this request to the TODO menu.
2. You came back and said please do not use File Lists. What is the reason/problem for not using them that would cause you to make that recommendation?
3. I also appreciate it that you gave me a regex I could use as a File Exclude filter. However, that is (to me) a VERY complex regex, meaning it would be difficult for me to extend it (to say add in another file extension to include, or to allow all files in a particular subfolder to be included as well. This makes this option rather unwieldy at best. I suppose I could get some AI option to help extend it, but I don't think I should have to futz with either of those when you have a simple construct that I DO know how to quite easily put to use. Thus, I still hope you can add in the feature as I requested it.
4. Item 3 adds to a SIGNIFICANT collection of folder/file include/exclude logical precedences:
   1. There are now numerous combinations of Allow/Exclude pairs/triplicates/+/+ settings that can ADD Drives/Folders/Subfolders/File by multiple mechanisms, as well as EXCLUDE items via the same mechanism. I very much encourage you to develop a full set of order-of-precedence rules that govern what the FINAL set items that overlapping allowances/excludes affect. Personally, I am STRONGLY in favor of MORE SPECIFIC constraints
      overriding LESS SPECIFIC constraints. "Specific" here is based on the full path of each given allowance/exclusion rule.
   2. For example:
      
      1. Drive C is included as a Local NTFS Volume
      2. C:\Program Files\* is excluded as a Folder Exclude
      3. C:\Program Files\My Important Application\* is included as a Folder Add
      4. a regex excludes C:\Program Files\My Important Application\*.dll files
      5. a regex includes C:\ProgramFiles\Another Important App\*.exe files
   3. Then the final set of INCLUDED folders/files, at least from my notion of precedence, would be the logically-resultant set:
      
      1. Include all folders/files from the C drive
      2. "Then Exclude" files in C:\Program Files\*
      3. "Then Add back in" folders and files from C:\Program Files\My Important Application\* (including subfolders)
      4. "Then Exclude" all files matching C:\Program Files\My Important Application\*.dll (including subfolders)
      5. "Then Add back in" matching files from C:\ProgramFiles\Another Important App\*.exe (including subfolders)
      • Note: My use of "Then..." is to hopefully make my verbiage easier to understand. Programmatically it would be quite inefficient to do it that way.
5. I have just stumbled across the fact that on the Exclude Tab we have options for Include Only Files and Exclude Files.
   1. The logic from both of these items should obviously be included in the precedence-based filtering algorithm mention in #4 above.
   2. I note that both of those folders seem to apply to EVERY Exclude Folder entered. I think this is suboptimal. It would be MUCH more flexible/useful to be allowed to have different Include/Exclude lists for EACH Excluded Folder specifically. But you should also have a checkbox for each to "Apply to All Folders" for user convenience.
   3. The documentation for these two options implies, and only provides examples for, FILE-based filters - not FOLDER-based filters. I think this is a significant limitation. And I would hope it would be moderately straightforward to add into the existing logic.
   4. Why do these Include Only Files and Exclude Files options only apply to the Exclude Tab, and not the Folders tab? It seems they should be equally applicable to both.
   5. Actually, why do we not also have both options available for NTFS and REFS Drives as well?
   6. Finally, if these two options were fully fleshed out as I mention, would it then be possible to accomplish some, or perhaps all, of what I requested in my OP as well as my other suggestions/requests in this post??
   P.S. OMG did it take me a LOONNNNGGG time to get the list formatting acceptable in this post!!

[TheSQLG0d]

Based on what I just noticed, it seems that the Exclude Tab's Include Only Files and Exclude Files options apply to ALL indexed items (specifically NTFS drives)??

I had put in "asdf" for Include and "asd" for Exclude for those two options respectively. Then did a search on my E Drive (which was not included in any option other than the NTFS Local NTFS Volumes list box) for regex:occt.* ext:exe. QUITE surprisingly, nothing was returned. Then I blanked out the Include Only Files and Exclude Files lists and POOF - the 4 expected files showed up immediately (2 in C Drive, 1 in E Drive, 1 in T Drive).

I think this is an absolutely incorrect (exceptionally confusing and unexpected at best) way to process those two lines of inputs. I note that my prior post proposes how to fix this issue, namely providing Include Only Files and Exclude Files options in ALL relevant locations, while also making them able to be per-indexed-item attached.

Thanks again for your consideration!!

[void]

Thank you for adding this request to the TODO menu.

Everything already ignores the exclude list when opening a file list from File -> Open File List.
I am considering an option to ignore the exclude list when including a file list from Tools -> Options -> File List.

You came back and said please do not use File Lists. What is the reason/problem for not using them that would cause you to make that recommendation?

File lists can be a pain to keep up-to-date.
Using a filter or exclude filter would be ideal.

FYI: You can edit your Everything filter.
Consider changing your Everything filter search to:
!<"c:\program files\" | "c:\program files (x86)\"> | ext:exe

This might be easier to setup than complex regex look behind patterns.

Why do these Include Only Files and Exclude Files options only apply to the Exclude Tab, and not the Folders tab? It seems they should be equally applicable to both.

Include only folders can be set under Tools -> Options -> NTFS/ReFS/FAT/Network Drive

Based on what I just noticed, it seems that the Exclude Tab's Include Only Files and Exclude Files options apply to ALL indexed items (specifically NTFS drives)??

Correct.
Folders are excluded first.
Include-only/exclude files cannot override include-only/exclude folders.

I had put in "asdf" for Include and "asd"

The whole filename is matched.
Use * wildcards to perform partial matching.

This should only show asdf files in your results.
The asd exclude won't do anything.