diff --git a/src/_h5ai/config.php b/src/_h5ai/config.php
index 8096a5b2..8ab74296 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/config.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/config.php
@@ -7,20 +7,23 @@
  */
 
 global $H5AI_CONFIG;
-$H5AI_CONFIG = array();
 
-/*
- * This configuration assumes that h5ai is installed
- * in the webroot directory of the Apache server.
- */
-$H5AI_CONFIG["ROOT_ABS_PATH"] = safe_dirname(safe_dirname(__FILE__));
+$H5AI_CONFIG = array(
 
-/*
- * Files/folders that should not be listed. Specified
- * by the complete filename or by a regular expression.
- * http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.preg-match.php
- */
-$H5AI_CONFIG["IGNORE"] = array();
-$H5AI_CONFIG["IGNORE_PATTERNS"] = array("/^\\./", "/^_h5ai/");
+	/*
+	 * This configuration assumes that h5ai is installed
+	 * in the webroot directory of the Apache server.
+	 */
+	"ROOT_ABS_PATH" => safe_dirname(safe_dirname(__FILE__)),
+
+	/*
+	 * Files/folders that should not be listed. Specified
+	 * by the complete filename or by a regular expression.
+	 * http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.preg-match.php
+	 */
+	"IGNORE" => array(),
+	"IGNORE_PATTERNS" => array("/^\\./", "/^_h5ai/")
+
+);
 
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Finder.js b/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Finder.js
index 6ef9fd90..60771f7b 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Finder.js
+++ b/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Finder.js
@@ -38,6 +38,18 @@
 					$filter.removeClass('current');
 				}
 			},
+			parseFilterSequence = function (sequence) {
+
+				if (sequence.substr(0,3) === 're:') {
+					return new RegExp(sequence.substr(3));
+				}
+
+				sequence = $.map($.trim(sequence).split(/\s+/), function (part) {
+
+					return H5AI.util.reEscape(part);
+				}).join('|');
+				return new RegExp(sequence);
+			},
 			init = function () {
 
 				if (H5AI.core.settings.showFilter) {
@@ -63,7 +75,7 @@
 									val = $input.val();
 
 								if (val) {
-									filter(new RegExp(val));
+									filter(parseFilterSequence(val));
 								} else {
 									filter();
 								}
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Util.js b/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Util.js
index ed3f298e..3fa02f5d 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Util.js
+++ b/src/_h5ai/js/inc/Util.js
@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@
 					return decodeURI(uri);
 				} catch (err) {}
 				return uri;
+			},
+			reEscape = function (sequence) {
+
+				return sequence.replace(/[-[\]{}()*+?.,\\^$|#\s]/g, '\\$&');
 			};
 
 		return {
@@ -108,7 +112,8 @@
 			getAbsHref: getAbsHref,
 			parseSize: parseSize,
 			formatSize: formatSize,
-			checkedDecodeUri: checkedDecodeUri
+			checkedDecodeUri: checkedDecodeUri,
+			reEscape: reEscape
 		};
 	}());
 
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/php/api.php b/src/_h5ai/php/api.php
index 72330882..c2a8de1c 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/php/api.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/php/api.php
@@ -14,11 +14,6 @@ function require_h5ai($lib) {
 }
 
 
-require_h5ai("/php/inc/H5ai.php");
-$h5ai = new H5ai();
-$options = $h5ai->getOptions();
-
-
 function fail($code, $msg, $cond = true) {
 	if ($cond) {
 		echo "$code: $msg";
@@ -36,6 +31,11 @@ function checkKeys($keys) {
 }
 
 
+require_h5ai("/php/inc/H5ai.php");
+$h5ai = new H5ai();
+$options = $h5ai->getOptions();
+
+
 list($action) = checkKeys(array("action"));
 
 
diff --git a/src/_h5ai/php/inc/H5ai.php b/src/_h5ai/php/inc/H5ai.php
index 6d25807c..4a70aced 100644
--- a/src/_h5ai/php/inc/H5ai.php
+++ b/src/_h5ai/php/inc/H5ai.php
@@ -256,8 +256,8 @@ class H5ai {
 
 	public function getHttpCode($absHref) {
 
-		return $this->cachedHttpCode($absHref);
-		// return $this->fetchHttpCode($absHref);
+		//return $this->cachedHttpCode($absHref);
+		return $this->fetchHttpCode($absHref);
 		// return $this->guessHttpCode($absHref);
 	}