Questions about Outlook 2002/2003 filters.txt

[Richard Fink]

1) Where can I find out the definitive description of each possible
parameter defined for use in filters.txt.
Such as:

To contains ""
First 8 characters of From are digits
From is blank (anything else possible ?)
From contains ""
Subject contains ""
Subject contains "" AND Subject contains ""
Subject contains "" AND (Subject contains "" OR Subject contains "")
Body contains ""
Body contains "" AND Body contains ""
Body contains "" AND (Body contains "" OR Body contains "")

....anything more ?
....Is this valid -
Subject contains "" AND Body contains ""


2) Its my impression that this file is processed during the Outlook
generated "Exception List" rule ?

Is that true ? Seems logical as this is where you provide the exceptions to
Junk and Adult content.

3) If true, then this rule has to be essentially at the bottom/end of all
rules, since it does not contain a "Stop processing more rules" command.
Without that command, a piece of junk mail is managed as junk and then is
processed by other rules. That seems to be a common issue here. So at the
bottom there is no conflict. The theory is that earlier rules identify good
mail, then at the end junk and adult content is identified.

Here's an idea, might the command "Stop processing more rules" be allowed at
the bottom of filters.txt ?

It is clear that this file called filters.txt, its use, its command
definition, its placement in the rules list is very undefined. Where can I
find the complete information on it. Can anybody dig into MSDN member's
area for me ?

Thanks.

-Ric

 

[Diane Poremsky [MVP]]

1) outlook doesn't use filters.txt. See
http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm and
http://www.mapilab.com/articles/outlook_spam_filter.html to learn more about
Outlook 2003's filters.

2) No.

3) See http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm for methods for handling
junk rules.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)



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[Richard Fink]

Diane, I appreciate your response.
Thanks for both url's. the slipstick url told me I was not going to be able
to control things as I had hoped. the mapilab site is fascinating.
Feel free to send along any more in-depth links.

If filters.txt is really just a readme file to demo what is happening, where
are the actual entries stored in Outlook 2002 ? In a different text file,
like "Junk Senders.txt" ? Or the Registry ? I can see that it is the
outlfltr.dat for 2003. But in 2002 ?....

Ok, if you would give me a sec here... what is the meaning of the
"Exceptions List" rule ? If it represents the exceptions to who or what may
use junk or adult criteria, then (it seems) it must be the moment when junk
and adult content are filtered. If not, how do I interpret the placement
and meaning of that rule versus the Adult and Junk Content Rules ?

There are 3 parts:
Adult Content Rule
Junk E-Mail Rule
Exception List

How do they inter-relate ??

Here is what I found in 2002... the Outlook generated Adult and Junk rules
had no "Stop processing more rules" and would not allow me to modify the
rules. That was a problem. But the rule list DID allow me to copy them
both as 2 new rules, and those new rules DID let me add the command "Stop
processing no rules". Then I just deleted the original adult and junk
rules.

Even so, I'm not clear as to how I put the application of all 3 together in
to my mental vision of operations.

Thank you !!

-Ric

1) outlook doesn't use filters.txt. See
http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm and
http://www.mapilab.com/articles/outlook_spam_filter.html to learn more about
Outlook 2003's filters.

2) No.

3) See http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.htm for methods for handling
junk rules.



--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Author, Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours
Coauthor, OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)



Search for answers: http://groups.google.com
Most recent posts to the Outlook newsgroups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_ugroup=microsoft.public.outlook.*&num=30

1) Where can I find out the definitive description of each possible
parameter defined for use in filters.txt.
Such as:

To contains ""
First 8 characters of From are digits
From is blank (anything else possible ?)
From contains ""
Subject contains ""
Subject contains "" AND Subject contains ""
Subject contains "" AND (Subject contains "" OR Subject contains "")
Body contains ""
Body contains "" AND Body contains ""
Body contains "" AND (Body contains "" OR Body contains "")

...anything more ?
...Is this valid -
Subject contains "" AND Body contains ""


2) Its my impression that this file is processed during the Outlook
generated "Exception List" rule ?

Is that true ? Seems logical as this is where you provide the

exceptions

to
Junk and Adult content.

3) If true, then this rule has to be essentially at the bottom/end of all
rules, since it does not contain a "Stop processing more rules" command.
Without that command, a piece of junk mail is managed as junk and then is
processed by other rules. That seems to be a common issue here. So at the
bottom there is no conflict. The theory is that earlier rules identify good
mail, then at the end junk and adult content is identified.

Here's an idea, might the command "Stop processing more rules" be

allowed

at
the bottom of filters.txt ?

It is clear that this file called filters.txt, its use, its command
definition, its placement in the rules list is very undefined. Where

can

I
find the complete information on it. Can anybody dig into MSDN member's
area for me ?

Thanks.

-Ric