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Hide My Folders ActiveX - File naming

To specify file or folder you would like to hide you may use full path to it or/and "wild-card" mask. There are a few tricks while hiding folder and its contents you must be aware of. Make sure to place ending "*" character if you want to hide folder with contents. For simple examples please see FAQ page.

Hiding system-critical folders (C:\windows, C:\windows\system32, *.exe, *.com etc) may result in system crash and unbootable systems. Please, make sure that you don't hide files that may cause harm to your operating system.

Below is a list of wildcards and special characters and examples or their usage:

Character Function
?

The match-one character matches any single character except the directory separator; it does not match the end of the string. Use it in the drive name and file name only; do not use it in a directory name. For example:

     

  • Pattern ab? matches abc, but does not match ab, abab, abzzz
  • Pattern ab?rs matches abfrs, but does not match abrs, abllrs
  • Pattern ab?ef?rs matches abdefjrs, but does not match abefrs, abdefrs, abefjrs
  • Pattern ab??rs matches abcdrs, abzzrs, but does not match abrs, abjrs, abkkkrs
*

The match-all character matches zero or more characters; it does not cross a directory boundary. Use it in the drive name and file name only; do not use it in a directory name. For example:

     

  • Pattern ab* matches ab, abb, abxxx, but does not match a, b, aa, bb.
  • Pattern ab*rs matches abrs, abtrs, abrsrs, but does not match ars, aabrs, abrss.
  • Pattern ab*ef*rs matchesabefrs, abefghrs, but does not match abefr, abers
  • Pattern abcd.* matches abcd.c, abcd.txt, but does not match abcd, abcdc, abcdtxt.
\

The directory separator character limits the scope of the search for the matching n characters and directories. If a pattern does not begin with a directory separator (or one does not follow the drive specification), a match-all directories is appended to the pattern. For example, these patterns are equivalent:

c:*
c:\...\*
:

The drive separator character separates a file specification. The characters before the colon identify a drive name. The characters after the colon identify either a directory name or a file name. For example:

   d:\direct\file.nam