Filter a list to exclude entries matching a regular expression

Summary

The filterout macro filters a list to exclude entries that match a specified regular expression pattern. This is the inverse of ${filter} - entries that match the pattern are removed from the result.

Syntax 

${filterout;<list>;<regex>}

Parameters

  • list - A comma or semicolon-separated list of values
  • regex - A Java regular expression pattern to match against

Behavior

  • Splits the input list into individual entries
  • Compiles the regex pattern
  • Tests each entry against the pattern using full match semantics
  • Removes entries that match the pattern (keeps non-matching ones)
  • Returns the filtered list as a comma-separated string
  • Empty result if all entries match (all excluded)

Examples

Exclude test files:

${filterout;Main.java,Test.java,TestUtil.java;.*Test.*}
# Returns: "Main.java"

Exclude snapshot versions:

${filterout;1.0.0,2.0.0-SNAPSHOT,3.0.0;.*SNAPSHOT.*}
# Returns: "1.0.0,3.0.0"

Exclude specific packages:

${filterout;com.example.api,com.example.impl,com.example.test;.*\.test}
# Returns: "com.example.api,com.example.impl"

Exclude by prefix:

${filterout;prod-bundle,test-bundle,dev-bundle;test-.*|dev-.*}
# Returns: "prod-bundle"

Use Cases

  • Removing test files from production builds
  • Excluding snapshot versions from release lists
  • Filtering out unwanted packages or dependencies
  • Cleaning up file lists
  • Removing debug or development artifacts
  • Excluding internal implementation packages

Notes

  • Uses Java regular expression syntax
  • The pattern must match the entire entry (full match, not substring)
  • Case-sensitive by default (use (?i) for case-insensitive matching)
  • Inverse operation of ${filter} - keeps entries that DON’T match
  • See also: ${reject} which is an alias for ${filterout}
  • See also: ${filter} (or ${select}) for inclusive filtering

See test cases in MacroTestsForDocsExamples.java