From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

Good day folks,
I appreciate this is an Acorn NG. But my questions though about Regex are directly connected to the VRPC-DL upon which I do all my Email and
Newsgroup Reading and Writing... (NetFetch).

I've looked at Regex tutorials online and my brain slowly turns to mush...
So please, I need a few point of clarification. :-)

In Regex is .* a real catch all ?

Example: Freds Pillows.*

Will that catch everything that follows Freds Pillows; As after a while spammers will add a little something after the usual moniker?


So if I have a Name.* Will adding a space after the Name .* give a
different result.

Name.* or Name .*
^

Thanks
Dave
--

Dave Triffid
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

On Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:06:38 +0000 (GMT)
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

Good day folks,
I appreciate this is an Acorn NG. But my questions though about Regex
are directly connected to the VRPC-DL upon which I do all my Email and Newsgroup Reading and Writing... (NetFetch).

I've looked at Regex tutorials online and my brain slowly turns to
mush... So please, I need a few point of clarification. :-)

In Regex is .* a real catch all ?

Example: Freds Pillows.*

Will that catch everything that follows Freds Pillows; As after a
while spammers will add a little something after the usual moniker?

So if I have a Name.* Will adding a space after the Name .* give a
different result.

Name.* or Name .*

.* is a greedy match for the given character, where . means any
character then yes, it should match until the end. If you added a space
then there would need to be a space in your string to match, but really
you should be using \s+ to catch one or more white spaces.


You can use one of the many regex checkers because not all regex
engines are built equal. I quite like https://regex101.com/ due to its
group highlighting.
--
End Of The Line BBS - Plano, TX
telnet endofthelinebbs.com 23


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In message <20260309101645.191086c4@wibble.sysadmininc.com>
Nigel Reed <sysop@endofthelinebbs.com> wrote:

On Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:06:38 +0000 (GMT)
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

Good day folks,
I appreciate this is an Acorn NG. But my questions though about Regex
are directly connected to the VRPC-DL upon which I do all my Email and
Newsgroup Reading and Writing... (NetFetch).

I've looked at Regex tutorials online and my brain slowly turns to
mush... So please, I need a few point of clarification. :-)

In Regex is .* a real catch all ?

Example: Freds Pillows.*

Will that catch everything that follows Freds Pillows; As after a
while spammers will add a little something after the usual moniker?


So if I have a Name.* Will adding a space after the Name .* give a
different result.

Name.* or Name .*

.* is a greedy match for the given character, where . means any
character then yes, it should match until the end. If you added a space
then there would need to be a space in your string to match, but really
you should be using \s+ to catch one or more white spaces.

You can use one of the many regex checkers because not all regex
engines are built equal. I quite like https://regex101.com/ due to its
group highlighting.

You can do Regex tests with the very good software from Martin Avison RegExTest.
https://homepages.force9.net/avisoft/RegExTest.htm
--
Jean-Michel
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In article <5cb78317c1dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <a69bf2b65c.jmb@jmc.bruck.orange.fr>,
Jean-Michel <jmc.bruck@orange.fr> wrote:
[Snippy]

You can do Regex tests with the very good software from Martin
Avison RegExTest.
https://homepages.force9.net/avisoft/RegExTest.htm

Yes I have a copy of that, but never managed to understand how to
use it.

You could always ask me!
--
Martin Avison
Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
without notice if (when) any spam is received.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In article <5cb79b15a1News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk>,
Martin <News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb78317c1dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <a69bf2b65c.jmb@jmc.bruck.orange.fr>,
Jean-Michel <jmc.bruck@orange.fr> wrote:
[Snippy]

You can do Regex tests with the very good software from Martin
Avison RegExTest.
https://homepages.force9.net/avisoft/RegExTest.htm

Yes I have a copy of that, but never managed to understand how to
use it.

You could always ask me!

Thanks, I might do that. :-)

That said, my quest is very simple.

I want to create a filter that will see and remove...

"Freds Pillows" and ANY other word(s) the spammer might add to it at a
later date.

Dave

A current one has gone from "Freds Pillows to "Freds Pillows #1"
--

Dave Triffid
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In article <5cb7dff274dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb79b15a1News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk>,
Martin <News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb78317c1dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <a69bf2b65c.jmb@jmc.bruck.orange.fr>,
Jean-Michel <jmc.bruck@orange.fr> wrote:
[Snippy]

You can do Regex tests with the very good software from Martin
Avison RegExTest.
https://homepages.force9.net/avisoft/RegExTest.htm

[Snip]

I want to create a filter that will see and remove...

Are you talking about a filter in Pluto?

"Freds Pillows" and ANY other word(s) the spammer might add to it
at a later date.

What field might that appear in?

A current one has gone from "Freds Pillows to "Freds Pillows #1"

If it is the Subject you want to check, simply create a filter on
Subject Contains, and enter Freds Pillows as the check. Set Discard
Message, or move to a Spam box? Regex would not be required.

But I suspect you are after something more complicated?
--
Martin Avison
Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
without notice if (when) any spam is received.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In article <5cb7e50788News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk>,
Martin <News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb7dff274dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb79b15a1News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk>,
Martin <News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb78317c1dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <a69bf2b65c.jmb@jmc.bruck.orange.fr>,
Jean-Michel <jmc.bruck@orange.fr> wrote:
[Snippy]

You can do Regex tests with the very good software from Martin
Avison RegExTest.
https://homepages.force9.net/avisoft/RegExTest.htm

[Snip]

I want to create a filter that will see and remove...

Are you talking about a filter in Pluto?

"Freds Pillows" and ANY other word(s) the spammer might add to it
at a later date.

What field might that appear in?

A current one has gone from "Freds Pillows to "Freds Pillows #1"

If it is the Subject you want to check, simply create a filter on
Subject Contains, and enter Freds Pillows as the check. Set Discard
Message, or move to a Spam box? Regex would not be required.

But I suspect you are after something more complicated?

Mmnn!
Many years ago I created a few spam catchers in Pluto Filters, and I also had/have some filters in Hermes.

However, when I moved all my domains to Orpheus I had access to Roundcube Webmail and its filtering which sorts the crap before I even consider downloading any mail.

It doesn't matter which app filters I use the problem is, and a real life example...

It started as Subject: "Derila Pillow"

I created a filter for that, then a while later the spam became "Derila
pillows #1" and the original filter didn't pick up and dump the extended
name.

Then recently it was modified again to Subject: "Derila Pillow #1 in the
United Kingdom", again no pickup.

I know only a very little about Regex and I was looking for a single
filter that would catch "Deril Pillow" regardless of what might be added
later.

So my question was about using "Derila Pillow.*" to catch ANY extended
variant of it and move it to the Spam folder.

Or are there any Regex elements I need to add or use?

Thanks
Dave
--

Dave Triffid
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In article <5cb8521565dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb7e50788News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk>,
Martin <News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb7dff274dave@triffid.co.uk>,
Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

In article <5cb79b15a1News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk>,
Martin <News04@avisoft.f9.co.uk> wrote:

[Snip]

If it is the Subject you want to check, simply create a filter on
Subject Contains, and enter Freds Pillows as the check. Set
Discard Message, or move to a Spam box? Regex would not be
required.

But I suspect you are after something more complicated?

Mmnn! Many years ago I created a few spam catchers in Pluto
Filters, and I also had/have some filters in Hermes.

However, when I moved all my domains to Orpheus I had access to
Roundcube Webmail and its filtering which sorts the crap before I
even consider downloading any mail.

It doesn't matter which app filters I use the problem is, and a
real life example...

It started as Subject: "Derila Pillow"

Aaah yes ... I have been suffering from those.

If you use Pluto to filter, then simply change the "Subject" to
"Subject contains" and it should trap any subject that contains that, regardless of whet else it contains.

Or are there any Regex elements I need to add or use?

No RegEx required.

If you use RoundCube or Hermes to do the filtering, then RegEx may be
required.
--
Martin Avison
Note that unfortunately this email address will become invalid
without notice if (when) any spam is received.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

On 12 Mar 2026 as I do recall,
Dave wrote:

It started as Subject: "Derila Pillow"

I created a filter for that, then a while later the spam became "Derila pillows #1" and the original filter didn't pick up and dump the extended name.

Then recently it was modified again to Subject: "Derila Pillow #1 in the United Kingdom", again no pickup.

Just filter on "Derila": I am also receiving messages from "New Derila
ERGO", "Derila Classic" and "Derila ERGO - 70%" (although they are being deleted on sender address because I have the originating domain filtered
out: @servicehotel.site, @fitzertin.de and @arbentio.click. I think
it's very unlikely I shall ever receive a valid e-mail from any of those domains....)
--
Harriet Bazley == Loyaulte me lie ==

Cloning is the sincerest form of flattery.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

On 12/03/2026 08:43, Dave wrote:
<SNIP>

So my question was about using "Derila Pillow.*" to catch ANY extended variant of it and move it to the Spam folder.

Or are there any Regex elements I need to add or use?

Thanks
Dave

As mentioned in a previous reply, you don't necessarily need a regular expression. If you create a Rule, say in Roundcube (or anything else
really);

'Rules'
'Subject'->'Contains'->'Derila'

'Actions'
'Delete message'
'Stop evaluating rules'

This will delete any message with 'Derila' anywhere in the subject.
Regardless of what else the subject contains. You could of course add " Pillow" to be more specific.

As a regex, Derila Pillow.* should match any string beginning with
"Derila Pillow" but as said, you don't need a 'match' in this case, just
a 'contains'.


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.acorn.misc

In article <a69bf2b65c.jmb@jmc.bruck.orange.fr>,
Jean-Michel <jmc.bruck@orange.fr> wrote:
[Snippy]

You can do Regex tests with the very good software from Martin Avison RegExTest.
https://homepages.force9.net/avisoft/RegExTest.htm

Yes I have a copy of that, but never managed to understand how to use it.

:-(

Thanks for the thought.

Dave
--

Dave Triffid
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2