>I wish someone from MS would clarify about masks, which we can use, and how these functions are working with such masks. Because right now I'm quite confused and not sure, what would be a good solution.
>
>AFAIK we should seriously consider an idea of having a table with the files and a Directory monitor. I know I can write Directory monitor with VFP9, but I don't have this version available here.

A quick and simple summary of wildcards used in file names:
* means any character from, and including, the * and to the next delimiter (a dot or a carriage return).
This means that any character after an * in the extension is redundant
This also means that any character between * and . is redundant
? means any character the same number of times as the number of ?s
Some examples:
a*.* means any files which begins with a
a*.b* means any files which begins with a, and whose extension also begins with b
*asda.* and *.* are 100% the same
ab*.* and ab*sda.* are 100% the same
?b*.* means any file where the second letter is b
a?b*.* means any file where the first letter is a and the third letter is b
??b.* means any file where the third letter is b and where the stem is exactly 3 characters
*. means any file which has no extension