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Table of Contents
REG Matching
TapeTrack supports matching against a list of patterns stored in the Windows Registry using the special filter prefix:
*REG:registry_value_name
This allows a filter field to be compared against multiple patterns defined centrally in the Windows Registry.
REG filtering is functionally similar to LIST filtering, however the patterns are stored in a registry value instead of a file.
How REG Matching Works
When a filter begins with:
*REG:
TapeTrack will:
- open the Windows Registry
- locate the specified value name
- read its contents
- treat the contents as a semicolon-separated list of patterns
- stop as soon as a match is found
Registry Location
Registry location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GazillaByte\TapeTrack\Lists
Each registry value under this key represents a reusable filter list.
Example
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
Example Registry Value
Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GazillaByte\TapeTrack\Lists
Create a new String Value named:
ProdFilters
With the following data (semicolon-separated):
*prod*;*PRD*;*production*
Using the REG Filter in TapeMaster
To filter the Description field using the registry list:
*REG:ProdFilters
This will match any Description containing:
“prod”
“PRD”
“production”
Expected Matching Results
Using the filter:
*REG:ProdFilters
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
Using Wildcards in REG Values
Each entry in the registry value supports standard TapeTrack wildcard matching.
Example registry value data:
*backup*;*archive*;*dump*
This allows a single REG filter to match multiple categories of Description text.
When to Use REG vs LIST
| Method | Storage Location | Best Used For |
|---|---|---|
| LIST | External text file | Shared configuration files |
| REG | Windows Registry | Centralised per-user configuration |
REG filtering is especially useful in environments where:
- administrators want centrally managed filter sets
- users should not modify external files
- reusable filter definitions are required across multiple tools
REG filtering provides a centralized, reusable method of matching a field against multiple wildcard patterns stored in the Windows Registry. It behaves the same as LIST filtering, but stores the pattern list inside:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\GazillaByte\TapeTrack\Lists
This makes it ideal for controlled environments where filter rules need to be maintained per user or workstation.