MyLeadFox

Filtering and columns

Use regex in a filter

Any text field can be matched by pattern rather than by a fixed string, and a single filter can hold more than one pattern. That is often tidier than adding several filters that all target the same field. But reach for it only when a plain contains will not do. A pattern is harder to read six weeks later than the filter it replaced, and a good deal of what people use regex for is an or-list the tag operators already handle.

  1. Set the operator to pattern matching

    On a text or link field, choose the pattern option instead of contains.

  2. Enter your pattern

    Write the expression you want to match against that field.

  3. Add further patterns to the same filter

    Add another term and give it its own connector. A term joined with or widens the match, and a term joined with not excludes it, so one filter can express "matches this or that, but not the other".

Worth knowing

  • Lookahead is not supported, and that is a deliberate trade rather than a gap. The engine runs in linear time, so no pattern you can write will hang your search or stall the grid.

Next

Combine filters with and, or and notExpress requirements, alternatives and exclusions in one filter setBuild your first filterNarrow eight million shops down to the ones worth contactingDescribe a search in your own wordsType what you are looking for and get a real filter set you can check before applying

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