Using a web resource address mask (also referred to as "address mask") may be useful if you need to enter numerous similar web resource addresses when creating a web resource access rule. If crafted well, one address mask can replace a large number of web resource addresses.
When creating an address mask, follow these rules:
*
character replaces any sequence that contains zero or more characters.For example, if you enter the *abc*
address mask, the access rule is applied to all web resources that contain the sequence abc
. Example: http://www.example.com/page_0-9abcdef.html
.
*.
characters (known as a domain mask) lets you select all domains of an address. The *.
domain mask represents any domain name, subdomain name, or a blank line.Example: the *.example.com
mask represents the following addresses:
http://pictures.example.com
. The domain mask *.
represents pictures.
http://user.pictures.example.com
. The domain mask *.
represents pictures.
and user.
http://example.com
. The domain mask *.
is interpreted as a blank line.www.
character sequence at the start of the address mask is interpreted as a *.
sequence.Example: the address mask www.example.com
is interpreted as *.example.com
. This mask covers the addresses www2.example.com
and www.pictures.example.com
.
*
character, the content of the address mask is equivalent to the same content with the *.
prefix./
or *
, the content of the address mask is equivalent to the same content with the /*
postfix.Example: the address mask http://www.example.com
covers such addresses as http://www.example.com/abc
, where a
, b
, and c
are any characters.
/
character, the content of the address mask is equivalent to the same content with the /*.
postfix./*
at the end of an address mask is interpreted as /*
or an empty string.Example: the address mask example.com
covers the addresses http://example.com
and https://example.com
.
Example: the address mask http://*.example.com
covers the address http://www.example.com
but does not cover https://www.example.com
.
*
character if it has been initially included in the address mask. Rules 5 and 7 do not apply to address masks enclosed in double quotation marks (see examples 14 – 18 in the table below).
Examples of how to use rules for creating address masks
No. |
Address mask |
Address of web resource to verify |
Is the address covered by the address mask |
Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
*.example.com |
http://www.123example.com |
No |
See rule 1. |
2 |
*.example.com |
http://www.123.example.com |
Yes |
See rule 2. |
3 |
*example.com |
http://www.123example.com |
Yes |
See rule 1. |
4 |
*example.com |
http://www.123.example.com |
Yes |
See rule 1. |
5 |
http://www.*.example.com |
http://www.123example.com |
No |
See rule 1. |
6 |
www.example.com |
http://www.example.com |
Yes |
See rules 3, 2, 1. |
7 |
www.example.com |
https://www.example.com |
Yes |
See rules 3, 2, 1. |
8 |
http://www.*.example.com |
http://123.example.com |
Yes |
See rules 3, 4, 1. |
9 |
www.example.com |
http://www.example.com/abc |
Yes |
See rules 3, 5, 1. |
10 |
example.com |
http://www.example.com |
Yes |
See rules 3, 1. |
11 |
http://example.com/ |
http://example.com/abc |
Yes |
See rule 6. |
12 |
http://example.com/* |
http://example.com |
Yes |
See rule 7. |
13 |
http://example.com |
https://example.com |
No |
See rule 8. |
14 |
"example.com" |
http://www.example.com |
No |
See rule 9. |
15 |
"http://www.example.com" |
http://www.example.com/abc |
No |
See rule 9. |
16 |
"*.example.com" |
http://www.example.com |
Yes |
See rules 1, 9. |
17 |
"http://www.example.com/*" |
http://www.example.com/abc |
Yes |
See rules 1, 9. |
18 |
"www.example.com" |
http://www.example.com; https://www.example.com |
Yes |
See rules 9, 8. |
19 |
www.example.com/abc/123 |
http://www.example.com/abc |
No |
An address mask contains more information than the address of a web resource. |