Note: This feature is currently in beta and is available only to early adopters.

All condition types support three match modes:

• Loose

• Sequential

• Strict

Match mode determines how the order of the input lines or regular expressions affects evaluation of the condition against the selected source.

Example Source:

hostname R1
 
 interface Ethernet1
  description Uplink
  ip address 10.0.0.1/24
 
 interface Ethernet2
  description LAN
  ip address 192.168.1.1/24
 
 router ospf
  network 10.0.0.0/24 area 0

Suppose the Condition type is "Source contains"  and the input is:

interface Ethernet1
 ip address 10.0.0.1/24

The table below shows the evaluation result for each match mode using the example source and condition input:

Loose Mode

Loose mode verifies that all input lines exist somewhere in the source. The order is ignored. Additional content between matching lines is irrelevant.

Example Input 1:

description LAN
 hostname R1

Result: Condition successful

Although the order of the input lines differs from the source, both lines are present.

Example Input 2:

hostname R1
 description WAN

Result: Condition failed

The line description WAN does not exist in the source.

Sequential Mode

Sequential mode requires all input lines to appear in the source in the same order as entered. Other lines may appear between them.

Example Input 1:

interface Ethernet1
 ip address 10.0.0.1/24

Result: Condition successful

The two lines appear in the source in the correct order. The "description Uplink" line between them is ignored.

Example Input 2:

ip address 10.0.0.1/24
 interface Ethernet1

Result: Condition failed

The input lines appear in the source in reverse order.

Strict Mode

Strict mode requires the input lines to appear consecutively. No additional text may exist between the matching lines in the source.

Example Input 1:

interface Ethernet1
 description Uplink
 ip address 10.0.0.1/24

Result: Condition successful

These three lines appear consecutively.

Example Input 2:

interface Ethernet1
 ip address 10.0.0.1/24

Result: Condition failed

The source contains the line "description Uplink" between the two input lines. Strict mode therefore fails.

Choosing the Right Match Mode