Using wildcards

Wildcards are single characters in the form of an asterisk (*) which are used to replace other characters in strings, e.g. *test, *@company.com, *test*, *@company*.

In CodeTwo Exchange Rules Pro, wildcards may be used to:

  • define phrases,
  • define email addresses.

Each usage types defined above are limited to certain features available in the program:

  • Wildcards for phrases can be used only in the Subject and Body conditions or the Remove Sensitive Content action.
  • Wildcards for email addresses can be used only for the Sender or Recipient conditions. Additionally, you can also use them while defining recipients' email addresses in blacklists.

Info

Please note that you can use an asterisk individually in phrases and email addresses (before or after a string of characters) or use asterisks simultaneously in front and after a character string. For example, if you define characters with wildcards as: *comp, comp*, *comp*, the following strings will be recognized: xxxxxcomp, compxxxxx, xxxxxcompxxxxx. Furthermore, you cannot use a wildcard inside a string of characters within phrases because it will not be recognized as a wildcard and will be treated as a normal character, e.g. co*mp. However, you can use it inside email addresses, e.g. m*@company.com.

Defining wildcards for phrases

To define wildcards for phrases in the Subject or Body conditions, add these conditions to a rule, choose the contains sensitive content operator and click Edit. Next, in the Sensitive content configuration window, mark any category (dictionary) and click Open dictionary. In the Edit categories window, click Add on the right side, under Phrases. In the New phrase editor, choose Wildcard from the Type drop-down menu and add a string of characters preceded or followed by an asterisk (Fig. 1.).

Defining wildcards for phrases in the Subject and Body conditions.
Fig. 1. Defining wildcards for phrases in the Subject and Body conditions.

To define wildcards for phrases in the Remove Sensitive Content action, add this action to a rule, select (highlight) any category from the list and click Edit categories. In the Edit categories window, click the Add button on the right side under Phrases. Once the New phrase editor opens, expand the phrase Type menu and choose Wildcard (Fig. 2.). Please be advised that the search operation is always case-insensitive.

Defining wildcards for phrases in the Remove sensitive content action.
Fig. 2. Defining wildcards for phrases in the Remove sensitive content action.

Defining wildcards for email addresses

To define wildcards in email addresses in the Sender and Recipient conditions, add these conditions to a rule, choose the matches email address operator and click Edit. In the Email addresses editor enter a string of characters including an asterisk. The matching operation is case-insensitive.

Defining wildcards for email addresses in the Sender and Recipient conditions.
Fig. 3. Defining wildcards for email addresses in the Sender and Recipient conditions.

See next

Log files - this article describes the diagnostic data collected during the program's operation. These data can be used to review any problems with the program.

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