diff --unified -r flexbackup-1.2.1-orig/flexbackup flexbackup-1.2.1/flexbackup
--- flexbackup-1.2.1-orig/flexbackup	2003-10-10 16:12:09.000000000 +0200
+++ flexbackup-1.2.1/flexbackup	2011-04-08 19:50:30.668709500 +0200
@@ -2887,6 +2887,10 @@
 	}
     }
 
+    if ($cfg::exclude_expr_filename ne '') {
+        $::exclude_expr_filename = $cfg::exclude_expr_filename;
+    }
+
     # Traverse mountpoints?
     &checkvar(\$cfg::traverse_fs,'traverse_fs','false local all','false');
     if ($cfg::traverse_fs eq "local") {
@@ -4811,6 +4815,15 @@
 
 }
 
+# Perl trim function to remove whitespace from the start and end of the string
+sub trim($)
+{
+    my $string = shift;
+    $string =~ s/^\s+//;
+    $string =~ s/\s+$//;
+    return $string;
+}
+
 ######################################################################
 # Common commands to invoke 'find' & get a desired file list on stdout
 ######################################################################
@@ -4861,6 +4874,52 @@
 	$cmd .= "-depth ";
     }
 
+    # Search for 'backup_ignore'-Files and build an array of regular expressions
+    my $filter_cmd_null = " -print0"; # No filtering
+    my $filter_cmd_newline = " -print"; # No filtering
+    if ($::exclude_expr_filename) {
+        my @regexp_ignore = ();
+        my $find = &maybe_remote_cmd("cd \"$dir\"; $cmd -name '$::exclude_expr_filename' -print", $remote);
+        open(LIST,"$find |") || die; 
+        while(<LIST>) {
+            chomp(my $file = $_);
+            open(IGNORE, "$dir/$file");
+            my $regexp = "";
+            while(<IGNORE>) {
+                my $pattern = trim($_);
+                if ($pattern ne "") {
+	                &log("| Adding exclude expression from '$dir/$file': $pattern");
+                    eval {
+                        qr{$pattern}; # Ensure that this can be compiled
+                        $regexp .= "($pattern)|";
+                    } or do {
+                        # Compilation error
+                        warn("Could not compile regular expression from '$dir/$file': $pattern");
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            $regexp =~ s/\|$//;
+            if ($regexp ne "") {
+                $file = dirname($file);
+                push(@regexp_ignore, qr{^\Q$file/\E($regexp)});
+            }
+            close(IGNORE);
+        }
+        close(LIST);
+
+        # Build regexp clauses to a filtering command (using perl ;-)
+        if (@regexp_ignore) {
+            $filter_cmd_null = " -print0 | xargs -0 perl -e 'foreach (\@ARGV) { print \"\$_\\0\" if ";
+            $filter_cmd_newline = " -print0 | xargs -0 perl -e 'foreach (\@ARGV) { print \"\$_\\n\" if ";
+            foreach (@regexp_ignore) {
+                $filter_cmd_null .= "! /$_/ and"; 
+                $filter_cmd_newline .= "! /$_/ and"; 
+            }
+            $filter_cmd_null .= " 1 }'";
+            $filter_cmd_newline .= " 1 }'";
+        }
+    }
+
     $cmd .= "$::mountpoint_flag ";
     $cmd .= "! -type s ";
 
@@ -4892,9 +4951,9 @@
 
     if (!defined($::pkgdelta)) {
 	if ($separator eq 'newline') {
-	    $cmd .= "-print ";
+	    $cmd .= $filter_cmd_newline;
 	} else {
-	    $cmd .= "-print0 ";
+	    $cmd .= $filter_cmd_null;
 	}
 
     } else {
@@ -4903,7 +4962,7 @@
 	# Then only keep unowned or owned+changed files
 
 	my $host;
-	my $find = &maybe_remote_cmd("cd \"$dir\"; $cmd -print", $remote);
+ 	my $find = &maybe_remote_cmd("cd \"$dir\"; $cmd $filter_cmd_newline", $remote);
 	my $write = "> $::pkgdelta_filelist";
 	if(defined($remote)) {
 	    &log("| Listing level $level to-be-archived files for $remote:$dir");
diff --unified -r flexbackup-1.2.1-orig/flexbackup.conf flexbackup-1.2.1/flexbackup.conf
--- flexbackup-1.2.1-orig/flexbackup.conf	2003-09-22 00:59:58.000000000 +0200
+++ flexbackup-1.2.1/flexbackup.conf	2011-04-08 19:35:24.853622743 +0200
@@ -100,6 +100,14 @@
 $exclude_expr[0] = '.*/[Cc]ache/.*';
 $exclude_expr[1] = '.*~$';
 
+# Read more exclude expressions from files with this name.
+# Each line represents one expression. The directory path is
+# prepended to this expressions. That means, if you have a
+# file called dummy/.backup_ignore with a single line
+# '.*.tmp$' this would be expanded to 'dummy\/.*.tmp$'.
+# If a pattern could not be compiled it will be ignored.
+$exclude_expr_filename = '.backup_ignore';
+
 # If true (default), and using a tape device, level zero "set" backups
 # assume you want to erase and use a new tape for each set. If false, level
 # zero "set" backups append to tapes.  To force an erase for any backup,