Wildcard Matching

What is it?

Several OpCon RPA fields match a value against a pattern rather than against an exact string. A pattern can contain wildcard characters, which stand in for parts of the value that change from run to run — a window title that includes today's date, an element whose text includes a record number, or a file whose name includes a sequence number.

Wildcard matching is used wherever OpCon RPA has to find something by name at runtime. A character means the same thing in every field that accepts it, but not every field accepts the whole set — the fields that search the file system accept fewer characters than the ones that search the screen.

Fields that support wildcards

Only the fields listed here interpret wildcards. Every other field is matched literally, so a * entered anywhere else is treated as an asterisk.

Robot Task activities

Every activity that acts on a window or a control has a Find Element group of properties. Two of them accept wildcards.

Property	Matched against	Wildcards	Default
WindowTitle	The title of the window the activity acts on	Yes	*, which matches any window
Text	The visible text of the control the activity acts on	Yes	Empty, which matches any text
Name	The control's accessible name	No — matched literally	Empty
ClassName	The control's window class	No — matched literally	Empty
AutomationId	The control's automation identifier	No — matched literally	Empty
ProcessName	The name of the process that owns the window	No — matched literally	Empty

Activities that act on a whole window rather than on a control — Attach Window, Close Window, Maximize Window, and the rest — carry a Title property instead of WindowTitle, and have no Text. Title accepts the same wildcards, with the difference described in Window titles and element text.

File and folder filters

A file filter is used by the Scan Document action and by the Get Files and Archive - Compress activities in a Robot Task. Four of its fields, on the filter's Location tab, accept wildcards.

Field	Matched against	Wildcards accepted	Notes
Folder	Folder paths to search	* and ? only	A wildcard expands one folder level
Exclude folder(s)	The folders found by the search	* and ? only	Excludes each match from the result
Include file mask	Each file name found	* and ? only	Defaults to *, which selects every file
Exclude file mask	Each file name found	All of them	Applied only when Use file exclusion is selected

Separate multiple entries in any of these fields with a semicolon: *.pdf;*.tif.

warning

Folders and the include mask accept only * and ?

Folder, Exclude folder(s), and Include file mask are resolved by asking Windows for the matching folders and files, and Windows recognizes only * and ? in a search pattern. A #, [list], or [!list] construct in one of those three fields matches nothing. Use them only in Exclude file mask, or in a Robot Task activity's WindowTitle, Title, or Text.

Two options change how the masks behave:

• Case sensitive, in the Include file mask group, makes the Exclude file mask case-sensitive, and makes both masks case-sensitive when they are regular expressions. Cleared by default. It has no effect on a wildcard Include file mask, which is always matched without regard to case.
• Is regex, available separately for the include and exclude masks, replaces wildcard matching with regular expression matching for that mask. The wildcard characters below then no longer apply to it.

Corrected in 1.2.0

Wildcard patterns are matched correctly starting in 1.2.0. In earlier builds the routine behind every field listed here reported no match for every pattern it was handed, so a field holding a wildcard generally found nothing at all rather than matching literally. A pattern that never matched before may now match, and a field you had worked around may now return more than you expect — review the patterns in your existing tasks after you update.

Supported wildcards

Character	Matches	Pattern	Matches	Does not match
*	Zero or more characters	Invoice*	Invoice, Invoice 4102 — Acme	Draft invoice
?	Exactly one character	Report?.pdf	Report1.pdf, ReportA.pdf	Report.pdf, Report10.pdf
#	Exactly one digit, 0 to 9	Batch-####	Batch-0417	Batch-041, Batch-04AB
[list]	Exactly one character from the list	[ABC]-summary	A-summary, C-summary	D-summary
[a-z]	Exactly one character in the range	Ledger-[0-9][0-9]	Ledger-08	Ledger-8
[!list]	Exactly one character not in the list	[!0-9]*	Acme report	2026 report

Combine them freely. Invoice ####-??.pdf matches Invoice 4102-AB.pdf.

The last three rows work in a Robot Task activity's WindowTitle, Title, or Text, and in a file filter's Exclude file mask. They do not work in Folder, Exclude folder(s), or Include file mask — see the warning above.

How matching works

Three rules govern every match.

• Matching is not case-sensitive by default. invoice* and INVOICE* behave identically, and both match Invoice 4102. Window titles and element text are always matched without regard to case. The Exclude file mask follows the Case sensitive option on the filter, which is cleared by default.
• The pattern must match the whole value, not part of it. Invoice matches only the exact text Invoice. To match a title that merely contains the word, surround it with * — *Invoice*.
• An exact match always wins. A pattern identical to the value matches even when it contains wildcard characters, so a window genuinely titled Report* is still found by the pattern Report*. This comparison ignores case too.

Match the stable part of the value

Write the pattern around the part of the text that never changes, and use a wildcard for everything that does. A window titled Acme Teller — Session 4102 — Connected is best matched by Acme Teller*, not by *4102*, which stops working on the next run.

Window titles and element text

In a Robot Task, WindowTitle, Title, and Text are all matched as patterns. This matters for any application whose captions carry a value that changes: a record number, a customer name, a timestamp, or a document count.

A recorded value is captured literally, so a recording made against Acme Teller — Session 4102 looks for exactly that title on the next run and fails when the session number changes. Edit the activity and replace the part that varies with a wildcard.

To make a recorded activity tolerant of a changing caption, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Robot Task and select the activity that fails.
2. Under Find Element, find the WindowTitle, Title, or Text property holding the value that changes.
3. Replace the changing part of the value with a wildcard — for example, change Acme Teller — Session 4102 to Acme Teller*.
4. Save the task.
5. Run the task to confirm the activity now finds the window.

Element text is matched together with the element's other properties

An activity finds a control by its Text and its ClassName and AutomationId. A wildcard widens the text comparison only — the candidate's class name and automation id are compared exactly.

Be aware that the comparison relaxes in stages if nothing is found. The activity first looks for a candidate whose text matches and whose class name and automation id both match. If none is found, it accepts a text match with either the class name or the automation id. If that fails too, it accepts a text match alone. A broad Text pattern can therefore still land on a control whose class name and automation id are both wrong, so keep the pattern as specific as the changing value allows.

Leaving Text empty is itself a wildcard: any text matches, and the control is chosen on ClassName and AutomationId alone.

An over-broad pattern is not safe

For element location — an activity with a WindowTitle property — the first candidate that matches is used, and if a pattern is broad enough to match more than one, which one is found is not predictable.

For the window activities — an activity with a Title property — a pattern containing *, ?, or # makes the activity act on every window it matches, not just the first. A Close Window with Title set to * closes every window the process owns. Keep the pattern as specific as the changing value allows: prefer Invoice #### over Invoice*.

A Title with no *, ?, or # in it acts on a single window: the activity takes the first caption that matches it, rather than every match. The comparison is still made without regard to case.

Folder patterns

A wildcard in the Folder field expands one folder level at a time. Only * and ? expand a folder level.

Pattern	Searches
C:\data\inbox	That folder only
C:\data\*\inbox	The inbox folder of every folder directly under C:\data
C:\data\2026-??\inbox	The inbox folder of C:\data\2026-01, C:\data\2026-02, and so on

Exclude folder(s) works differently: it does not expand anything. Each pattern is compared against the folders the search has already found, and the files in every folder that matches are dropped from the result.

That has a consequence worth knowing. The list of found folders is only built when Folder holds no wildcard, so a wildcard Exclude folder(s) pattern has no effect at all if Folder contains one. To search broadly and then carve out what you do not want, put the wildcard in the exclusion rather than in the search:

• Folder — C:\data
• Include sub folders — selected
• Exclude folder(s) — C:\data\test*

That searches every folder under C:\data except the ones whose name begins with test. A pattern with no wildcard in it, such as C:\data\archive, is excluded correctly whatever Folder contains.

The path up to the first wildcard must exist

A folder pattern is expanded one level at a time, starting from the part of the path before the first wildcard. That part must be an existing folder. C:\data\*\inbox works when C:\data exists; a pattern whose fixed root does not exist matches nothing rather than reporting an error.

FAQs

Which fields accept wildcards? The WindowTitle, Title, and Text properties of a Robot Task activity, and the Folder, Exclude folder(s), Include file mask, and Exclude file mask fields of a file filter. See Fields that support wildcards. Every other field is matched literally.

Can I use a wildcard in ClassName, AutomationId, or ProcessName? No. Those are matched literally. Only WindowTitle, Title, and Text interpret wildcards.

Why does # or [list] do nothing in my file mask? Folder, Exclude folder(s), and Include file mask accept only * and ?, because Windows resolves them and Windows recognizes only those two. Use # and the [list] forms in Exclude file mask, or in a Robot Task activity's WindowTitle, Title, or Text.

Is matching case-sensitive? Not by default. Window titles and element text are always compared without regard to case, as are folder patterns and the Include file mask. For the Exclude file mask, select the Case sensitive option on the filter if you need case to matter.

Why does my pattern not match a title that clearly contains the text? The pattern must match the whole value. Add * at each end — *Invoice* rather than Invoice.

How do I match a value that really contains an asterisk or a question mark? Enter the value exactly as it appears. An exact match is checked before the pattern is interpreted, so a literal value matches itself.

What is the difference between ? and *? ? stands for exactly one character; * stands for any number of characters, including none.

Can I use a regular expression instead? Not in WindowTitle, Title, or Text — those accept wildcards only. A file filter has an Is regex option for the include and exclude masks, which replaces wildcard matching for that mask.

My recorded task worked once and then stopped finding the window. The recorded title probably contains a value that changes between runs. Edit the activity and replace the changing part with a wildcard.

Do wildcards work in a folder name in the middle of a path? Yes. C:\data\*\inbox is expanded one folder level at a time. The part of the path before the first wildcard must be an existing folder.

Related topics

• Robot Task
• Unattended Session

Glossary

Term	Definition
Wildcard	A character in a pattern that stands for other characters, so one pattern matches a family of values.
Pattern	The value you enter in a field that supports wildcards, compared against the value found at runtime.
File mask	The pattern a file filter compares against each file name to decide whether the file is selected.
Element text	The visible text of the control a Robot Task activity acts on, used together with the control's class and identifier to find it.