Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From +v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just +about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of +DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do +anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update. +
+
There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These +are accept, reject and clear. First we will look +generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the +DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism. +
+
In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which can have +up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ... +
+
+
+
+accept/spots .....
+reject/spots .....
+
+where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are filters +for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each different +accept or reject command reference for more details. +
There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ... +
+
+
+clear/spots 1
+clear/spots all
+
+There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter. +
+
and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ... +
+
+
+
+show/filter
+
++
For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same +principles to all types of filter. +
+
There are two main types of filter, accept or reject. You +can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference +and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject +filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10 +lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the +action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept +means take it) +
+
If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter +will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter, +then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped. +For example if you have a single line accept filter ... +
+
+
+accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+
+then you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones +14, 15 and 16. +
+
If you set a reject filter like this ... +
+
+
+reject/spots on hf/cw
+
+Then you will get everything EXCEPT HF CW spots. You could make this +single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA +and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in +CW, then you could say ... +
+
+
+reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
+
+But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:- +
+
+
+accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
+
+which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other +until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you +wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but +don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing! +
+
You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own +understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ... +
+
+
+reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
+reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+
+What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF +which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe. +
+
This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if +you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available. +This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it +more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example. +
+
You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look +at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We +are saying reject spots that are VHF or above APART from those in +zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did +not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it +logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ... +
+
+
+(on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
+
+The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are +here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'. +
As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than +simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want +to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or +one line. For example ... +
+
+
+reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
+
+would redefine our earlier example, or +
+
+
+clear/spots 1
+
+To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ... +
+
+
+clear/spots all
+
++
You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the +various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter. +
+
Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects. This can +be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be followed, even +if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set specifically. Default +rules can be set for nodes and users. They can be set for spots, announces, +WWV and WCY. They can also be used for hops. An example might look like +this ... +
+
+
+accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
+set/hops node_default spot 50
+
+This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV and WCY. +This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific filter is written to +override it for a particular node. You can also set a user_default should +you require. It is important to note that default filters should be +considered to be "connected". By this I mean that should you override the +default filter for spots, you need to add a rule for the hops for spots also. +
+
Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment. +
+
The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU +can be written with a mixed filter, for example ... +
+
+
+rej/spot on hf/cw
+acc/spot on 0/30000
+acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+
+Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This will +automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have said reject all +HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all others at HF. Also +accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by operators in the zones +14, 15 and 16. Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and +an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot. +
+
It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the default +for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'. In the example +what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non hf/cw spot is passed +to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line +lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU. +
+
+