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| <section><a id="RAT_Exclusion_Expressions"></a> |
| <h1>RAT Exclusion Expressions</h1> |
| <p>RAT uses a variation on the Ant or Git exclusion syntax.</p> |
| <ul> |
| |
| <li><code>?</code> matches a single character. For example ‘ca?’ will match ‘cat’ and ‘can’ but not ‘call’ or the abbreviation for california (or Canada) ‘CA’.</li> |
| <li><code>*</code> matches zero or more characters. For example ‘ca*’ will match ‘cat’, ‘can’, ‘call’ and the abbreviation for california (or Canada) ‘CA’.</li> |
| <li><code>**</code> matches zero or more directories. For example ‘**/ca?’ will match ‘my/cat’, ‘my/can’, ‘the/cat’, ‘the/can’, ‘cat’ and ‘can’.</li> |
| <li><code>!</code> reverses the meaning of the expression. Example “!ca?” will not match “cat” or “can”. See include/exclude notes below.</li> |
| </ul> |
| <p>The table below shows an example of how the <code>*</code> and <code>**</code> differ and interact.</p> |
| <table class="table table-striped"> |
| <thead> |
| <tr class="a"> |
| <th> </th> |
| <th><code>foo/x/y</code></th> |
| <th><code>b/foo</code></th> |
| <th><code>b/foo/x</code></th> |
| <th><code>a/b/foo</code></th> |
| <th><code>foo</code></th> |
| <th><code>a/b/foo/x/y</code></th> |
| <th><code>a/b/foo/x</code></th> |
| <th><code>foo/x</code></th> |
| <th><code>b/foo/x/y</code></th></tr></thead><tbody> |
| <tr class="b"> |
| <td><code>foo</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="a"> |
| <td><code>foo/*</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="b"> |
| <td><code>foo/**</code></td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="a"> |
| <td><code>*/foo</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="b"> |
| <td><code>*/foo/*</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="a"> |
| <td><code>*/foo/**</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td></tr> |
| <tr class="b"> |
| <td><code>**/foo</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="a"> |
| <td><code>**/foo/*</code></td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>F</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>F</td></tr> |
| <tr class="b"> |
| <td><code>**/foo/**</code></td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td> |
| <td>T</td></tr></tbody> |
| </table> |
| <section><a id="Inclusion.2FExclusion_Notes"></a> |
| <h2>Inclusion/Exclusion Notes</h2> |
| <p>Patterns that are excluded may be superseded by patterns that are included.</p> |
| <p>For example: the exclusion pattern ‘ca*’ used in conjunction with the include ‘cat’ would result in the file ‘cat’ being included but ‘can’, ‘call’ and the abbreviation for california (or Canada) ‘CA’ being excluded.</p> |
| <p>When processed a negated exclusion results in an inclusion, and a negated inclusion results in an exclusion.</p> |
| <p><strong>Once a file is explicitly included it can not be excluded.</strong></p></section><section><a id="Directory_separation_characters"></a> |
| <h2>Directory separation characters</h2> |
| <p>Patterns may use either ‘/’ or ‘\’ as the path separation character. ‘/’ is recommended.</p></section><section><a id="Case_sensitivity"></a> |
| <h2>Case sensitivity</h2> |
| <p>The case sensitivity of the matching patterns depends upon the file system in use. If the file is case-sensitive then the matches are case-sensitive.</p></section></section> </main> |
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