Understanding syntax of \*\*

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burgundy
Posts: 273
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:50 am

Understanding syntax of \*\*

Post by burgundy »

If I want to search only a folder (such as the root c:\) and not include any subfolders, then I use this command:

Code: Select all

c:\ !c:\*\*
Can someone explain the syntax of this part: \*\*

It looks a bit like some form of regex but can't be because regex is not enabled.
void
Developer
Posts: 16748
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:31 pm

Re: Understanding syntax of \*\*

Post by void »

\*\* basically means match another \ any where after the first \

The * is a wildcard.

* will match any character any number of times

! is the Everything NOT operator.

We also need to add the trailing * because Everything matches the entire filename when using wildcards.

Putting it altogether, !c:\*\* will match anything that does not have a second \ in the full path.

You may also like to try the following parent: search function:
parent:c:

This will only show results that are in the root of your C: drive.
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