+manpagesection(EXCLUDE PATTERNS)
+
+The exclude and include patterns specified to rsync allow for flexible
+selection of what files to transfer and what files to skip.
+
+rsync build a ordered list of include/exclude options as specified on
+the command line. When a filename is encountered rsync then checks the
+name against each exclude/include pattern in turn. The first matching
+pattern is acted on. If it is an exclude pattern than that file is
+skipped. If it is an include pattern then that filename is not
+skipped. If no matching include/exclude pattern is found then the
+filename is not skipped.
+
+The patterns themselves can take several forms. The rules are:
+
+itemize(
+ it() if the pattern starts with a / then it is matched against the
+ start of the filename, otherwise it is matched against the end of
+ the filename. Thus /foo would match a file called foo
+ at the base of the tree whereas foo would match any file
+ called foo anywhere in the tree.
+
+ it() if the pattern ends with a / then it will only match a
+ directory, not a file, link or device.
+
+ it() if the pattern contains a wildcard character from the set
+ *?[ then regular expression matching is applied using the
+ normal shell filename matching rules. Otherwise a simple string
+ match is used.
+
+ it() if the pattern contains a / (not counting a trailing /) then it
+ is matched against the full filename, including any leading
+ directory. If the pattern doesn't contain a / then it is matched
+ only against the final component of the filename.
+
+ it() if the pattern starts with "+ " (a plus followed by a space)
+ then it is always considered a include pattern, even if specified as
+ part of an exclude option. The "+ " part is discarded before matching.
+
+ it() if the pattern starts with "- " (a minus followed by a space)
+ then it is always considered a exclude pattern, even if specified as
+ part of an include option. The "- " part is discarded before matching.
+)
+
+The +/- rules are most useful in exclude lists, allowing you to have a
+single exclude list that contains both include and exclude options.
+
+Here are some examples:
+
+itemize(
+ it() --exclude "*.o" would exclude all filenames matching *.o
+ it() --exclude "/foo" would exclude a file in the base directory called foo
+ it() --exclude "foo/" would exclude any directory called foo
+ it() --include "*/" --include "*.c" --exclude "*" would include all
+ directories and C source files.
+)
+