Filters are used to determine which non hidden loaded files match a set of specified rules. This matched set or the set of unmatched files, can be used to close, hide or select files. The creation and management of filters is done via the File>Filter... menu item, by the main window's context menu's Filter... item, or from the Filter toolbar item. Saved filters are available on the main window context menu from the Close Files, Hide Files and Select Files submenus.
The operation of the Filter Editor which is shared with database filters is described in The Filter Editor.
You can filter in one way or another on any metadata associated with a track. This includes the standard Yate fields, the display only items such as UD Mappings and special count related functions such as the number of artwork items. You can also filter on various properties and named Comments, UDTIs and UD URLs. In the filter editor every item is called a field.
Note, if you filter on a UD Mapping which is undefined it will have a value of empty. If a defined UD Mapping represents a named filter, it's value will also be empty. Only UD Mappings which are associated with UDTIs can be truely filtered.
Note that many filter types are state related rather than directly corresponding to a metadata field. For example: Cannot Locate, Is Linked, Has Chapters, etc.
The Variable # fields are available so that you can design a filter which can be manipulated at runtime by the Stop Action and Filter Files statement. Note that track variables are typically empty when not running an action.
The value field can contain most escape sequences described in Escape Sequences. This allows you to compare fields against others, etc.
When filtering on File Tags or Folder Tags you are working with the textual representation of the tags displayed in the Finder Tag Editor, not the colour indicators displayed in the associated columns.
An operator's value field can contain most escape sequences described in Escape Sequences. This allows you to compare fields against others, etc.
The text regular expression operator's value field does not support escape sequences. All escape sequences are assumed to be regular expression escape sequences. You can test a regular expression via the preview button to the right of the field.
The Filter Editor's disclosure and context menu is extended as follows:
The popup button at the lower right of the window displays the function which will be executed via the Apply ➝ button.
The Search All Tags button provides a means of displaying the All Tags edit panel's find panel. It has nothing to do with filters and is supplied for convenience reasons only.
Additional Information: