Filter properties dialog box

You can use this dialog box to modify the properties of the filters of Folder Guard. To display this dialog box, select the filter you want to change in the Folder Guard window, and press Enter or choose Properties command from the Filter menu. (You can also double-click the filter with the mouse or press the Enter key to display this dialog box). This dialog box contains the following areas:

Apply to files

A mask that specifies the names of the files to which this filter should apply. If a file has a name that matches the mask entered in this box, this filter would apply to that file, unless the name of the file matches the mask entered in the Except for files box. (See below for the examples). Empty box means ALL (the same as *), that is all files match the filter.

Except for files

The mask that specifies the file names the filter should NOT be applied to. Empty area means NONE, that is no files are excluded from the filter. If a file name matches the mask entered in this area, the filter will not be applied to such a file, even if its file name matches the Apply to files mask.

Apply to folders

The mask of the folders to which the filter should applied. Only files located in the folders listed in this box would be subject to this filter. (See below for the examples). Empty area means ALL (the same as *), that is all folders match the filter.

Except for folders

The folders the filter should NOT be applied to. Empty area means NONE, that is no folders are excluded from the filter. If a file is located in a folder that matches the mask entered in this area, the filter will not be applied to such a file, even if its folder matches the Apply to folders mask.

Apply to modules

The mask specifying the names of the executable modules to which this filter should apply. Only files accessed by the modules defined by this mask would be subject to this filter, unless the name of the module matches the mask entered in the Except for modules box. (See below for the examples). Empty area means ALL (the same as *), that is files opened by any module would match the filter.

Except for modules

The modules this filter should NOT apply to. Empty area means NONE, that is no modules are excluded from the filter. If the module name matches the mask entered in this area, the filter will not be applied to the files accessed by that module, even if the module name matches the Apply to modules mask.

Comments

Any text (such as explanatory notes) may be entered here. The content of this box is not used by Folder Guard when restricting access to files with the filters.

Note: The name of a filter can be changed using the Filter - Rename command. Folder Guard does not use the name while performing the protection; it is just a label to help you identify the filter.

How Folder Guard applies the filters

Whenever a program attempts to access a file, Folder Guard takes a note of the following information:

The file name of the file being accessed;
The full path to the folder where the file in question is located;
The module name of the program that is accessing the file.

Folder Guard then walks through the list of filters, in the order they are listed in the Folder Guard window, and attempts to match the noted information with each filter that has a non-default access attribute for the user currently logged on to the computer. The match occurs if all of the following conditions are met:

The name of the file being accessed matches the mask of the Apply to files field of the filter, but does not match the Except for files field, AND
The name of the folder where the file is located matches the specification of the Apply to folders field of the filter, but does not match the Except for folders field, AND
The name of the program module accessing the file matches the specification of the Apply to modules field of the filter, but does not match the Except for modules field.

If all three conditions above are met, Folder Guard uses the access attribute assigned to the filter to allow or deny access to the file. If at least one condition listed above is not met, Folder Guard skips the filter and continues to search for the matching filter until the end of the list is reached. If no matching filter is found, Folder Guard uses the access attribute of the file, as it was assigned with Folder Guard and displayed in the Folder view. If the file was not added to the folder list, or has a default access attribute, the access attribute of the folder where the file is located is used.

Note: The Trusted Programs list has a higher priority than the list of the filters. That is, a trusted program can access all files unconditionally, even if you have set up a filter that restrict access to certain files for that program.

Remarks

All masks are case-insensitive. For example, *.exe, *.Exe, and *.EXE all have the same effect. When describing the masks of the filters, the following terms are used:

path, full path, complete path
The full DOS path, usually beginning with a drive letter, used to specify the exact location of files and folders on the computer disks. For example, C:\Docs\Personal\Letter to mom.doc is the path to the file named Letter to mom.doc, located in the subfolder Personal of the folder Docs on the drive C:. The full path to the folder where this file is located is C:\Docs\Personal.

folder part of a path
The full path to the folder where the file in question is located. In the previous example, C:\Docs\Personal is the folder part of the full path to the file Letter to mom.doc.

full file name, complete file name
The name of the file that uniquely identifies the file within the folder where it resides. In the previous example, Letter to mom.doc is the full file name of the file.

file name
the part of the full file name that does not include the file name extension. In the previous example, Letter to mom is the file name of the file Letter to mom.doc.

extension, file name extension
The part of the complete file name, following the last dot in the name, if any. The extension is used by Windows to identify the type of the file. In the previous example, doc is the complete file name of the file Letter to mom.doc.

Note: Window Explorer may not show the file name extensions. To make the extensions visible, run Explorer, choose View - Folder Options in the menu, select the View page, and clear the ''Hide file extensions for known file types'' option.

wildcard
The star (*) character used as a placeholder for zero, one or more of arbitrary characters. Note the question mark character (?) is NOT used as a wildcard in the filter masks.

module name
The name of the module that is accessing a file. For more information about the modules see Trusted Programs.

Examples of masks for the Apply to/Except for files boxes

*.txt
All files that have the file name extension txt, such as Test.txt, ABC.TXT, foo123.tXt, match this mask. Test.txt1, ABC.doc, T.toc are some of the names that do NOT match this mask.

abc.*
All files that have the file name abc, such as abc.txt, ABC.doc, AbC.exe, match this mask. Abc1.txt, ABCDEF.doc, A.exe, abc (without any extension) are some of the names that do NOT match this mask.

abc*
All file names that begin with abc, such as abc.txt, ABC1.doc, AbCdEfG.exe, abc (without any extension) match this mask. Ab.txt, B.doc, CBA.exe, are some of the names that do NOT match this mask.

*.t*
All files that have the file name extension beginning with t, such as Test.txt, ABC.TOC, foo123.t, match this mask. Test.123, ABC.doc, T.exe are some of the names that do NOT match this mask.

*.*
All files match this mask, except the file names that don't have the dot in the name (and, therefore, don't have the file name extension).

*
All files match this mask.

abc.txt
(No wildcard is used). Only the files with the full file name abc.txt (case-insensitive) match this mask. All other names do NOT match this mask.

If a mask must include spaces, it should be enclosed in double quotes. For example, to specify all files that begin with white paper, use the mask "white paper*", including quotes.

Several masks may be separated with spaces, semicolons (;), or commas (,). For example:

*.txt;"white paper*";*.EXE,*.doc

Any file that have the file name extension txt, or exe, or doc, or if its file name begins with white paper, would have matched such a composite mask.

Examples of masks for the Apply to/Except for folders boxes

C:\Docs
All files located in the C:\Docs folder, such as C:\Docs\Test.txt, C:\Docs\ABC.TXT, C:\Docs\foo123.toc, match this mask. If a file is located in any other folder (including any subfolders of C:\Docs), such as C:\Temp\Test.txt, C:\Docs\Personal\Test.txt, D:\Archive\ABC.TXT, do NOT match this mask.

C:\Docs\*
All files located in any subfolder of the C:\Docs folder (but not those located in the C:\Docs folder itself), such as "C:\Docs\Business\white paper.txt", "C:\Docs\Personal\Letter to mom.doc", match this mask. If a file is located in any other folder (including the folder C:\Docs), such as C:\Temp\Test.txt, C:\Docs\Test.txt, D:\Archive\ABC.TXT, do NOT match this mask.

C:\Docs*
All files located in any folder which path begins with "C:\Docs", such as "C:\Docs\Business\white paper.txt", "C:\Docs\Personal\Letter to mom.doc", C:\Docs\Test.txt, C:\DocsOld\1998.txt, match this mask. If the path of the folder does not begin with C:\Docs, such as C:\Temp\Test.txt, C:\Doom\Game.exe, D:\Docs\ABC.TXT, do NOT match this mask.

*
Files in all folders match this mask.

If a mask must include spaces, it should be enclosed in double quotes. For example, to specify all files that reside in subfolders of C:\Program Files, use the mask "C:\Program Files\*", including quotes.

Note that some applications and Windows components use the short (a.k.a. MS-DOS-style) names for the folders. (For example, C:\PROGRA~1 refers to the same folder as C:\Program Files.) To protect access from such applications, add a mask to match the short name of the folder as well (for example, C:\PROGRA~1\* ).

Several masks may be separated with line breaks, spaces, semicolons (;), or commas (,). For example:

"C:\Program Files\*", C:\PROGRA~1\*, C:\Windows*

Examples of masks for the Apply to/Except for folders boxes

notepad
The files accesses by Windows Notepad match this mask. Files accessed by any other module do not match this mask.

win*
Only module names that begin with win, such as winfile or winword, match this mask.

*
All module names match this mask.

Several masks may be separated with spaces, semicolons (;), or commas (,). For example:

notepad winword winfile