Change Auditor 7.5 - User Guide

File and Folder Inclusion and Exclusion Examples

File and Folder Inclusion and Exclusion Examples

This section provides sample entries for the Inclusions and Exclusions tabs on the auditing wizard. It does not list every combination available, but provides a variety of examples to help you understand how to use the wildcard characters allowed on these two tabs.

The Inclusions and Exclusions tabs only appear when the Folder, Volume or All Volumes option is selected in the Audit Path field and the Scope includes child objects. Use these two tabs as described below:

•	Inclusions tab - enter a file mask to specify what is to be audited.

•	Exclusions tab - optionally enter a file mask (or path) to specify subfolders and files in the selected audit path that are to be excluded from auditing.

Inclusions tab

Inclusions tab

You must enter a file mask on the Inclusions tab to specify what is to be audited in the selected audit path. Use the following characters to specify a file mask on the Inclusions tab:

•	Fixed characters such as letters, numbers and other characters that are allowed in file names.

•	An asterisk (*) wildcard character to substitute zero or more characters.

•	Question mark (?) wildcard character to substitute a single character.

•	A double asterisk (**) to specify a recursive match. (find match in the folder and all subfolders in audit path).

NOTE: The slash (\) and double asterisk (**) characters can only be used with volumes.

Examples:

The following table provides some examples of file masks that can be used on the Inclusions tab of the auditing wizard. Note that <String> in this table may contain any of the file mask characters described above (i.e., fixed characters, * or ?).

Table 3. Inclusion examples

What is included in the audit	Inclusion syntax/examples:
Include all files located anywhere in the audit path. NOTE: This is the most commonly used file mask.	Inclusion Syntax: *
Include all files with a specific file name regardless of its file extension.	Inclusion Syntax: <FileName>.* Example: Name.* Includes: Name.txt Name.docx Name.pdf
Include all files with a specific file extension.	Inclusion Syntax: <FileNameString>.<Ext> Example 1: *.tmp Includes: Files with a file extension of .tmp. Name.tmp Testing.tmp Example 2: ???*.doc Includes: Files whose name contains at least three characters with a file extension of .doc. MyTest.doc Testing123.doc 123.doc Example 3: ???test.doc Includes: Files whose name contains seven characters and ends in ‘test’ with a file extension of .doc. ABCtest.doc 123test.doc
Include all files with a specific file name that has a file extension of a specific length (number of characters).	Inclusion Syntax: <FileName>.<ExtString> Example 1: Name.??? Includes: Name.txt Name.tmp Name.pdf Example 2: Name.???? Includes: Name.docx Name.xlsx
Include all files that contain a specific string in their name and/or file extension.	Inclusion Syntax: <FileNameString>.<ExtString> Example: *name.??p Includes: Files whose name end with ‘name’ with a three character file extension that ends in the letter ‘p’. Myname.tmp Name.bmp

 

Exclusions tab

Exclusions tab

If you do not want to exclude anything (folders or files) in the audit path from auditing, skip this tab. However, if you want to exclude a specific folder/file or group of folders/files, use the following characters to specify what is to be excluded:

•	Fixed characters such as letters, numbers and other characters that are allowed in file names.

•	An asterisk (*) wildcard character to substitute zero or more characters.

NOTE: Use a single asterisk (*) to specify a non-recursive match (find match in the folder only; does not match any slash characters (\)). Use a double asterisk (**) to specify a recursive match (find match in the folder and all subfolders in audit path; matches slash characters (\) and directory names in paths).

•	Question mark (?) wildcard character to substitute a single character (does not match any slash characters (\).

NOTE: Be sure to select the appropriate Add option (Folder or File) when adding an exclusion or you may not get the results expected. That is, use Add | Folder to exclude the auditing of activity against files/subfolders in folder(s) that match the exclusion string. Use Add | File to exclude the auditing of activity against file(s) that match the exclusion string.

Exclusion examples

These examples show how to use file masks on the Exclusions tab of the auditing wizard. Note that <String> in these examples may contain any of the file mask characters described above (such as, fixed characters, * or ?).

•	Folder exclusion examples

•	Volume exclusion examples

•	All volume exclusion examples

Folder exclusion examples

Folder exclusion examples

Audit Path = Folder (<ShareName>\<FolderName>) exclusion examples

In the following examples the Audit Path is HOME\TEMP.

 

Table 4. Exclusion examples: Audit Path = Folder

What to exclude	Exclusion syntax/examples
Exclude activity against files/subfolders in the specified folder in the base audit path. (Add | Folder)	Exclusion Syntax: <FolderName> Example: DOCS Excludes: HOME\TEMP\DOCS
Exclude activity against files/subfolders in all folders that contain a specific string in their name, which are located in the base audit path. (Add | Folder)	Exclusion Syntax: <FolderNameString> Example 1: DOC* Excludes: HOME\TEMP\DOCS HOME\TEMP\DOCUMENTS Example 2: *DOC Excludes: HOME\TEMP\MYDOC Example 3: *DOC? Excludes: HOME\TEMP\DOCS HOME\TEMP\MYDOCX HOME\TEMP\PUBLICDOCS
Exclude activity against files/subfolders in all folders with a specific name found anywhere in the audit path. (Add | Folder)	Exclusion Syntax: **\<FolderName> Example: **\MYDOC Excludes: HOME\TEMP\MYDOC HOME\TEMP\DOCUMENTS\MYDOC HOME\TEMP\DOCS\PRIVATE\MYDOC
Exclude activity against a specific file in the base audit path. (Add | File)	Exclusion Syntax: <FileName.ext> Example: Test1.docx Excludes: HOME\TEMP\Test1.docx
Exclude activity against all files with a specific extension, which are located in the base audit path. (Add | File)	Exclusion Syntax: *.<ext> Example: *.tmp Excludes: HOME\TEMP\Doc1.tmp HOME\TEMP\Testing123.tmp
Exclude activity against all files with a specific file extension, which may be found anywhere in the audit path. (Add | File)	Exclusion Syntax: **.<ext> Example: **.tmp Excludes: HOME\TEMP\Doc1.tmp HOME\TEMP\DOCUMENTS\Testing.tmp
Exclude activity against all files that contain a specific string in their name and/or file extension, which are located in the base audit path. (Add | File)	Exclusion Syntax: <FileNameString>.<ExtString> Example 1: ??word.??? Excludes: Files whose name contains six characters and ends in ‘word’, with a three character file extension. HOME\TEMP\Myword.doc HOME\TEMP\12word.txt Example 2: *word*.??p Excludes: Files whose name contains the string ‘word’, with a three character file extension that ends with the letter ‘p’. HOME\TEMP\Word.tmp HOME\TEMP\Mywordtest.tmp HOME\TEMP\Nowords.bmp