-.nf
-
-. word separator for a host
-/ word separator for a disk
-^ anchor at left
-$ anchor at right
-? match exactly one character except the separator
-* match zero or more characters except the separator
-** match zero or more characters including the separator
-
-.fi
+.SH "DATESTAMP EXPRESSION"
+.PP
+A
+\fIdatestamp\fR
+expression is a range expression where we only match the prefix\. Leading ^ is removed\. Trailing $ forces an exact match\.
+.TS
+allbox tab(:);
+l l
+l l
+l l
+l l
+l l
+l l
+l l.
+T{
+20001212\-14
+T}:T{
+match all dates beginning with 20001212, 20001213 or 20001214
+T}
+T{
+20001212\-4
+T}:T{
+same as previous
+T}
+T{
+20001212\-24
+T}:T{
+match all dates between 20001212 and 20001224
+T}
+T{
+2000121
+T}:T{
+match all dates that start with 2000121 (20001210\-20001219)
+T}
+T{
+2
+T}:T{
+match all dates that start with 2 (20000101\-29991231)
+T}
+T{
+2000\-10
+T}:T{
+match all dates between 20000101\-20101231
+T}
+T{
+200010$
+T}:T{
+match only 200010
+T}
+.TE
+.PP
+.SH "DUMP SPECIFICATIONS"
+.PP
+A dump specification selects one or more dumps\. It has the form
+\fI[host][:disk][@datestamp]\fR, where each component is a pattern as described above\. If a component is missing, it is treated as a wildcard\. The characters \':\', \'@\', and \'\e\' may be escaped within any component by preceding them with a \'\e\'\.