Filters

Edit -> Edit System Data --> Import Filters...

Filters are a very fast and useful way to weed out unwanted messages.

This menu option allows various import filters to be set, so that newly imported messages which match the filter criteria are by-passed.  Up to 20 keyword filters can be applied to the To, From, Subject and Body of a message.  For example:  to filter all messages that contain  a specific character combination  (IBM)  one would enter these characters into one of the empty text fields and check the Filter Flag (message elements) that are to be searched using all nonSmart keywords.  These types of filters are known as global filters, as they apply to all filter flags.  See Smart Filters for ways of targeting keywords with specific message elements.

Aside from text filters, messages older than x days can be filtered.

All messages filtered can be logged to a special Archive Log, and be viewed later.  Filters are not case sensitive.  All text is converted to uppercase before any comparison.

Caution:  Filtering text can be confusing, here is a basic rule to follow.

To filter for a specific keyword be sure to include a space before and after the characters of the keyword.  For example:  If word go was being filtered and a space before and after the keyword were omitted then any occurrence of go; in this case a message containing the word GO, GOT, OREGON and so on would be filtered during the import process. This is because the go character combination was found to be part of another word.  However, if a space was included before and after the keyword  go  then only messages containing the actual word "go" would be filtered.

Smart Filters:

This subset of filters gives the ability to target a specific keyword with a specific message element and to no other.

These types of key words are preceded by two meta characters (meta characters are character combinations that have special meaning to CP).  These identify special filters that can be targeted at specific message elements without effecting the global filtering criteria already setup.  The following are meta characters (these are characters that have to precede a filter word or phrase which is to be used for comparison purposes).

S,xxxxx
B,xxxxx
T,xxxxx
F,xxxxx

(S, B, T, F,) are the meta characters that identify which message element the key word or phrase (represented as xxxxxx) will be compared with.  Note that commas MUST be used after the SBTF meta characters.

For example,

Let's assume that some general global filters are already set up and a new target specific filter using the word PICTURE filtered on the subject field only is to be set up.

Enter the following into any empty edit field:  S,PICTURE. CP will now compare the word PICTURE against the subject element of all newly imported messages.   No other message elements will be compared, using this keyword, unless it is also duplicated as a global filter or with some other target specific filter.

Note:  For Smart Filters to take effect, the Smart Filter x,yyyy check box has to be enabled.  If this box is not checked and meta characters have been entered CP will treat them as general purpose (Standard) filters.

The fields that can be scanned for possible filtration include:  To, From, Subject, Body and Date.  Check all the Filter Flags to be included in the search.

Checking the date box will also require a value from 1 to 500 (x) to be entered.  If a message date is older than x days then that message is filtered.

If the Activate Filter Log box is checked then COUNTERPoint will write all filtered messages to a special Filter Log (text) file found in the Archive Folder. If this Activate Filter Log box is left unchecked then all filtered messages are lost forever - no record of them, other than that they were filtered, is maintained.

COUNTERPoint can also reset the Filter Log file every time a cleanup operation is done.  If the Reset Log at Cleanup box is checked this file will be reset during the next cleanup session.  If this box isn't checked and the Activate Filter Log box is checked, then the text file will grow and will need to be deleted by the operator.  Unattended, the Filter Log can grow at a fast pace

To: - if checked, this message field will be scanned for a filter match

From: - if checked, this message field will be scanned for a filter match

Subject: - if checked, this message field will be scanned for a filter match

Body: - if checked, this message field will be scanned for a filter match

Date: - if checked, the date will be scanned for messages older than x days

Activate Filter Log - if checked, will log filter messages to a text file (Filter Log)

Reset Log at Cleanup - if checked, will reset the Filter Log during the next cleanup operation.

Save - This button will record the selections to disk.

Cancel - This button will revert to the setting prior to entering this dialog box.

If the 'Write Detail Log' option is checked under the System Settings dialog box, CP will provided a summary of all message filtered, as well as why each was filtered, to the LOG file in the Common Folder or Tabby Folders.

Examples:

S,AMIGA   -----  This would compare against the Subject: element only

T,JOHN DOE  -----  This would compare against the To: element only

IBM DOS 
DOS 5.0  -----  These two would be compared against all the message elements you have checked in the Filter Flags Check box area.

Edit -> Edit System Data --> Priority Filters...

Priority Filters are a very fast and useful way to identify important must read messages. 
See key window for ways of reading priority messages.  See Import Filters - as they operator
the same way priority filters work, except messages are flagged as important rather than for
non import.