WindowFolder & FolderRule Models – BetterWinTab Reference

WindowFolder represents a named grouping of windows in BetterWinTab’s sidebar. Folders can operate in several modes — from fully manual user assignments to composite rule-based smart filtering — controlled by the FolderType enum. The rule engine (FolderRuleGroup + FolderRuleCondition) powers the SmartRules folder type, enabling multi-condition AND/OR logic against any combination of process name, window title, and class name.

WindowFolder

Identity & Display

string

A unique identifier for this folder, stored as a Guid serialized to a string (e.g., "3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301"). Generated at creation via Guid.NewGuid().ToString(). Used as a stable key for folder lookup, drag-and-drop ordering, and manual window handle association.

Name

string

default:"\"New Folder\""

The display label shown in the sidebar and folder header. Editable by the user.

Icon

string

default:"\"\\uE8B7\""

A single Unicode character rendered as the folder’s icon glyph in the sidebar. Defaults to the Segoe MDL2 Assets folder icon (\uE8B7). Users can customize this with any Unicode character, including emoji.

BackgroundColor

string

default:"\"\""

A hex color string (e.g., "#FF5733") applied as a background tint to the folder item in the sidebar. An empty string means no background tint is applied and the folder uses the default surface color.

SortOrder

int

default:"0"

Integer display order for the folder in the sidebar. Folders are rendered in ascending SortOrder. Updated when the user reorders folders via drag-and-drop.

Folder Type

Type

FolderType

default:"FolderType.Manual"

Controls how windows are populated in this folder. See the FolderType enum table below for all valid values and their behaviors.

Filter Configuration

ProcessFilter

string?

The process name to match for SmartProcess-type folders (e.g., "Code", "chrome"). This is the legacy single-process filter, retained for backward compatibility with settings files created before the SmartRules system was introduced. New smart folders should use Rules instead.

ClassNameFilter

string?

The Win32 window class name to match for SmartClass-type folders (e.g., "Chrome_WidgetWin_1"). This is the legacy single-class filter, also kept for backward compatibility. New smart folders should prefer SmartRules with a ClassName condition.

Rules

FolderRuleGroup?

The composite rule group for SmartRules-type folders. Holds an AND/OR operator and a list of FolderRuleCondition entries. See FolderRuleGroup below. null when the folder type is not SmartRules.

Runtime Collections

The following two properties are decorated with [JsonIgnore] and are never persisted to disk. They are populated at runtime during window enumeration and folder population. Do not rely on them having valid data outside of the active application session.

Windows

ObservableCollection<WindowInfo>

The live, observable collection of WindowInfo objects currently assigned to this folder. Bound directly to the WinUI 3 window grid via data binding. Repopulated on each window enumeration cycle.

ManualWindowHandles

HashSet<IntPtr>

The set of raw Win32 window handles (HWND) that the user has manually assigned to this folder. While Handle values are volatile across reboots, this set persists across window enumeration refreshes within a single session, allowing manual assignments to survive a Windows collection rebuild without requiring re-assignment.

Methods

`GetFilterSummary()`

Returns a short human-readable string describing the folder’s current filtering logic. Used in the Settings panel and folder edit UI.

FolderType	Example output
`All`	`"All open windows"`
`SmartProcess`	`"Process: chrome"`
`SmartClass`	`"Class: Chrome_WidgetWin_1"`
`SmartRules` (with rules)	`"Rules (AND): ProcessName Equals \"Code\", Title Contains \"src\""`
`SmartRules` (empty)	`"Smart rules (empty)"`
`Manual`	`"Custom folder"`
`Clipboard`	`"Clipboard history"`
`RecycleBin`	`"Recycle Bin"`

FolderType Enum

Value	Description
`All`	A catch-all folder that always displays every open window. Typically used for the default “All Windows” entry.
`Manual`	The user explicitly assigns windows to this folder via drag-and-drop or the context menu. Window assignments are tracked in `ManualWindowHandles`.
`SmartProcess`	Automatically includes all windows whose `ProcessName` matches `ProcessFilter` (case-insensitive). Legacy single-process filter.
`SmartClass`	Automatically includes all windows whose `ClassName` matches `ClassNameFilter` (case-insensitive). Legacy single-class filter.
`SmartRules`	Composite rule-based filtering using `FolderRuleGroup`. Supports multiple conditions with AND/OR logic across `ProcessName`, `Title`, and `ClassName`. The recommended approach for new smart folders.
`Clipboard`	Special system folder that displays clipboard history items from BetterWinTab’s clipboard monitor. Not populated by window enumeration.
`RecycleBin`	Special system folder shortcut that opens the Windows Recycle Bin when selected.

FolderRuleGroup

FolderRuleGroup is the root of the rule tree for SmartRules folders. It holds a top-level logical operator and a flat list of conditions.

Operator

RuleOperator

default:"RuleOperator.OR"

Determines how the individual conditions in Conditions are combined. AND requires every condition to match; OR requires at least one to match. See RuleOperator.

Conditions

List<FolderRuleCondition>

default:"[]"

The list of individual conditions to evaluate. Each condition targets a single window field (ProcessName, Title, or ClassName) and applies a comparison operator against a value string. See FolderRuleCondition below.

`Matches(WindowInfo window)` Method

Evaluates the entire rule group against a window. Returns false immediately if Conditions is empty.

public bool Matches(WindowInfo window)
{
    if (Conditions.Count == 0) return false;

    return Operator == RuleOperator.AND
        ? Conditions.All(c => c.Matches(window))   // AND: every condition must pass
        : Conditions.Any(c => c.Matches(window));   // OR:  at least one must pass
}

FolderRuleCondition

FolderRuleCondition represents a single predicate tested against one field of a WindowInfo. All string comparisons are case-insensitive.

Field

RuleField

default:"RuleField.ProcessName"

Which property of the WindowInfo to test. See RuleField.

Comparison

RuleComparison

default:"RuleComparison.Equals"

The comparison operator to apply between the field’s runtime value and Value. See RuleComparison.

Value

string

default:"\"\""

The string to compare the field value against. For Regex comparisons this is a .NET regular expression pattern. All other comparisons treat this as a literal string.

Computed Display Properties

FieldDisplay

string

Read-only computed property that returns Field.ToString(). Provides the string name of the active RuleField value (e.g., "ProcessName", "Title", "ClassName"). Used in compiled WinUI 3 XAML bindings where enum-to-string conversion is required directly in markup.

ComparisonDisplay

string

Read-only computed property that returns Comparison.ToString(). Provides the string name of the active RuleComparison value (e.g., "Equals", "Contains", "Regex"). Used in compiled WinUI 3 XAML bindings for display in the rule editor UI.

`Matches(WindowInfo window)` Method

Resolves the target field value from window, then dispatches to the appropriate comparison:

var fieldValue = Field switch
{
    RuleField.ProcessName => window.ProcessName,
    RuleField.Title       => window.Title,
    RuleField.ClassName   => window.ClassName,
    _                     => string.Empty
};

return Comparison switch
{
    RuleComparison.Equals     => fieldValue.Equals(Value,      OrdinalIgnoreCase),
    RuleComparison.Contains   => fieldValue.Contains(Value,    OrdinalIgnoreCase),
    RuleComparison.StartsWith => fieldValue.StartsWith(Value,  OrdinalIgnoreCase),
    RuleComparison.EndsWith   => fieldValue.EndsWith(Value,    OrdinalIgnoreCase),
    RuleComparison.Regex      => TryRegexMatch(fieldValue, Value),
    _                         => false
};

Regex comparisons use TryRegexMatch, which wraps Regex.IsMatch in a try/catch and returns false on an invalid or malformed pattern rather than throwing an exception. This ensures that a bad regex entered by the user does not crash the enumeration pipeline.

`ToString()` Method

Returns a compact representation used in GetFilterSummary() output:

ProcessName Equals "Code"
Title Contains "src"
ClassName Regex "^Chrome_"

RuleOperator Enum

Value	Description
`AND`	All conditions in the group must match for the window to be included.
`OR`	Any single condition in the group matching is sufficient to include the window.

RuleField Enum

Value	Tested Property	Example value
`ProcessName`	`WindowInfo.ProcessName`	`"Code"`, `"chrome"`, `"explorer"`
`Title`	`WindowInfo.Title`	`"README.md - MyProject"`
`ClassName`	`WindowInfo.ClassName`	`"Chrome_WidgetWin_1"`, `"Notepad"`

RuleComparison Enum

Value	Behavior	Case-sensitive?
`Equals`	Field must exactly match `Value`.	No (OrdinalIgnoreCase)
`Contains`	Field must contain `Value` as a substring.	No (OrdinalIgnoreCase)
`StartsWith`	Field must begin with `Value`.	No (OrdinalIgnoreCase)
`EndsWith`	Field must end with `Value`.	No (OrdinalIgnoreCase)
`Regex`	Field must match the .NET regex in `Value` (IgnoreCase flag set). Invalid patterns return `false` silently.	No (RegexOptions.IgnoreCase)

Models

Services

WindowFolder & FolderRule Models – BetterWinTab Reference

WindowFolder

Identity & Display

Folder Type

Filter Configuration

Runtime Collections

Methods

`GetFilterSummary()`

FolderType Enum

FolderRuleGroup

`Matches(WindowInfo window)` Method

FolderRuleCondition

Computed Display Properties

`Matches(WindowInfo window)` Method

`ToString()` Method

RuleOperator Enum

RuleField Enum

RuleComparison Enum

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Models

Services

Documentation Index

​WindowFolder

​Identity & Display

​Folder Type

​Filter Configuration

​Runtime Collections

​Methods

​GetFilterSummary()

​FolderType Enum

​FolderRuleGroup

​Matches(WindowInfo window) Method

​FolderRuleCondition

​Computed Display Properties

​Matches(WindowInfo window) Method

​ToString() Method

​RuleOperator Enum

​RuleField Enum

​RuleComparison Enum

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

WindowFolder

Identity & Display

Folder Type

Filter Configuration

Runtime Collections

Methods

`GetFilterSummary()`

FolderType Enum

FolderRuleGroup

`Matches(WindowInfo window)` Method

FolderRuleCondition

Computed Display Properties

`Matches(WindowInfo window)` Method

`ToString()` Method

RuleOperator Enum

RuleField Enum

RuleComparison Enum