TapeTrack supports matching against a list of patterns stored in an external file using the special filter prefix:

*LIST:filename

• filename the name of the file containing the search terms.

This allows a filter field to be compared against multiple patterns, where each pattern is stored as a separate line in the file.

This is useful when you have a large set of patterns to maintain, want reusable filters shared between operators or scripts or you want to avoid typing long OR-style filters manually.

When a filter begins with:

 *LIST: 

TapeTrack will:

• open the specified file
• read the file line-by-line
• treat each line as an individual filter pattern
• stop as soon as a match is found

Each line in the list file is processed as a normal TapeTrack pattern match (wildcards are supported).

Example set of Description values for Volumes in TapeMaster:

Production database weekly backup
Prod DB full backup
Prod data backup set
Production export dump
Development database backup
Weekly archive - finance system

Create a plain text file called prod_filters.txt

With the following contents (one pattern per line):

*prod* 
*PRD* 
*production* 

To filter the Description field using the list file:

 *LIST:prod_filters.txt 

This will match any Description containing:

prod
PRD
production

Using the filter:

 *LIST:prod_filters.txt 

The following descriptions would typically match:

Production database weekly backup

Prod DB full backup

Production export dump

PRD database BKP

Prod data backup set

The following descriptions would typically not match:

Development database backup

Weekly archive - finance system

Each line in the list file supports standard TapeTrack wildcard matching.

Example list file contents:

 *backup* *archive* *dump* 

This allows a single LIST filter to match multiple categories of Description text.

LIST files are read sequentially until a match is found.

Blank lines should be avoided.

Each line should contain a valid TapeTrack filter pattern.

LIST filters can be used in TapeMaster filters and TapeTrack CLI filters (where supported).

If a tool supports multiple filter fields, LIST filters can be used to simplify selection logic.

For example, a LIST file could contain all patterns related to production backups:

 *prod* *production* *weekly backup* *full backup* 

Then the TapeMaster Description filter can be applied as:

 *LIST:prod_filters.txt 

This provides a centralised way to manage filtering rules.

LIST filtering provides a simple way to match a field against multiple patterns stored in an external file.

It is ideal for environments where filtering rules must be maintained and reused across operators, jobs, or automation scripts.