30 Filters
30.1 Overview ¶
Filters decide which incoming messages a profile processes. A profile can contain any number of filter criteria, combined with AND and OR. A message is processed when the combined result of the active criteria evaluates to true.
Profile-specific filters are configured under Message filters (see chapter 8.9). Reusable filter lists are maintained via Program options - Filter lists (see chapter 40.11).
30.2 Structure of a filter criterion ¶
Each filter criterion consists of three parts:
| Part |
Description |
| Property |
Which mail property is checked (e.g. subject, sender, received date) |
| Operator |
How comparison is performed (e.g. contains, is between, is older than) |
| Value |
Comparison value (text, number, date, selection) |
In addition, from the second row on, each row starts with the connector to the previous row (AND/OR), and each row can be temporarily switched off using the Activate/Deactivate button. Rows belonging to the same AND group share a background color; an OR starts a new group with a different color (since version 4.9.0).
30.3 Available properties ¶
Text properties
| Property |
Description |
| Subject |
Subject line of the message |
| Sender name |
Plain-text name of the sender |
| Sender address |
Email address of the sender |
| Recipient name |
Plain-text name of the recipient |
| Recipient address |
Email address of the recipient |
| Message body |
Body of the message |
| Message header |
Raw header of the message |
| Attachment name |
File name of an attachment |
| Folder path |
Path of the source folder |
Numeric and special properties
| Property |
Description |
| Received date |
Date/time of receipt |
| Attachment count |
Number of attachments |
| Attachment size |
Size of a single attachment |
| Importance |
High / Normal / Low |
| Read status, Replied status, Flag status |
Boolean mail statuses |
| Recipient type |
To, CC, or BCC |
| Category |
Outlook category (Microsoft 365) |
| Has attachments |
Boolean |
| Signed / Encrypted / Signature valid / Trust chain |
S/MIME properties |
| E-invoice type |
ZUGFeRD or XRechnung |
| Message type |
Newsletter, bounce, auto-reply etc. |
30.4 Operators ¶
Which operators are available depends on the data type:
| Data type |
Operators |
| Text |
contains / does not contain, equals / does not equal, starts with / does not start with, ends with / does not end with |
| Number, size |
equal / not equal, less than, greater than, is between |
| Date |
is within the last, is older than, is between |
| Boolean |
is Yes / is No |
| Importance, e-invoice type, message type |
equals / does not equal |
| Category |
in list / not in list |
Lists from central filter list management can be integrated into text filters via the placeholder <EntryFromList{ListName}>, combined with e.g. contains (see chapter 30.19).
30.5 AND/OR conditions ¶
Multiple filter rows are evaluated in the order they appear in the list. The connector changes for each transition:
| Condition |
Effect |
| AND |
Both criteria must match |
| OR |
One of the criteria must match |
Mixed forms such as "(A and B) or C" are also possible - OR conditions act as a separator between AND groups.
How the program reads this filter: Below the criteria list, an expandable area shows the filter in words (since version 4.9.0), for example "The filter matches as soon as all conditions of one of the following groups are met: Group 1: Subject contains "Invoice" and Attachment name ends with ".pdf" OR group 2: Sender address contains "supplier-a.com"". The groups are numbered like the row colors of the list and like the reasons in the filter preview. If you are unsure how an OR takes effect, this text is the quickest way to check.
Caution with excluding criteria: An email is processed as soon as one OR group matches completely. If an OR group consists only of excluding criteria ("does not contain", "is not" etc.), it matches almost every email and the selection criteria of the other groups become ineffective. A typical cause is a connector accidentally set to OR before a "does not contain" row. In this case the filter editor shows a note and asks for confirmation when saving; with "Do not ask again" the question no longer appears, while the note in the criteria list remains.
Caution with general characteristics: The same applies to an OR group that contains no criterion for sender, recipient, subject, message text, header or category, but only checks general characteristics, for example "Attachment name contains .pdf" as a separate row after an OR. Such a group matches every email with a PDF attachment, no matter who sent it. If a characteristic like the PDF attachment is meant to apply to all groups, the row must be added to each OR group with AND, i.e. it may have to appear several times: "Subject contains Customer-A AND Attachment name contains .pdf OR Sender address contains customer-a.com AND Attachment name contains .pdf". In this case, too, the filter editor shows a note and asks for confirmation when saving, again with the option "Do not ask again".
Example:
1. Sender address contains @supplier-a.com OR
2. Sender address contains @supplier-b.com AND
3. Attachment name ends with .pdf
Meaning: "Mail from supplier A OR (mail from supplier B with PDF attachment)".
30.6 AND/OR separator in the value ¶
For text properties, multiple values can be combined within a single filter value - via the separators <AND> and <OR>.
Example: The filter "Attachment name ends with .pdf<AND>Invoice" matches only PDF files that additionally contain "Invoice" in the name.
The button Split into separate criteria... in the filter editor breaks a combined value into multiple filter rows.
30.7 Inactive criteria ¶
Using the Activate/Deactivate button above the criteria list, the currently selected criterion can be temporarily switched off without deleting it - e.g. for testing. Inactive criteria are skipped during evaluation, together with the AND/OR at the start of their row. This can shift the groups: if you deactivate, for example, the OR row that starts a second group, the AND rows after it now belong to the first group. The row colors and the How the program reads this filter section always show the actual grouping.
30.8 Evaluation order ¶
During processing, the program evaluates criteria in list order. As soon as an AND condition fails, the subsequent criteria of that AND group are skipped.
30.9 Detail chapters ¶
The following chapters describe the individual filter types in detail:
| Chapter |
Filter |
| 30.10 |
Text filter |
| 30.11 |
Date filter |
| 30.12 |
Size filter |
| 30.13 |
Importance filter |
| 30.14 |
Categories filter |
| 30.15 |
Flag and status filter |
| 30.16 |
E-invoice filter |
| 30.17 |
Message type filter |
| 30.18 |
Attachment filter |
| 30.19 |
Filter lists |