From 7ae164217c54eb8ab2ad67cc71e1f63ee6c7b960 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Scott Powell <sqij@protonmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2026 18:35:55 +1100
Subject: [PATCH] * region names now don't need '#' prefix. (SHA still adds a
 '#' for back compat)

---
 src/helpers/RegionMap.cpp | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/helpers/RegionMap.cpp b/src/helpers/RegionMap.cpp
index fbc5f017..35692762 100644
--- a/src/helpers/RegionMap.cpp
+++ b/src/helpers/RegionMap.cpp
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ RegionMap::RegionMap(TransportKeyStore& store) : _store(&store) {
 
 bool RegionMap::is_name_char(uint8_t c) {
   // accept all alpha-num or accented characters, but exclude most punctuation chars
-  return c == '-' || c == '#' || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || c >= 'A';
+  return c == '-' || c == '$' || c == '#' || (c >= '0' && c <= '9') || c >= 'A';
+}
+
+static const char* skip_hash(const char* name) {
+  return *name == '#' ? name + 1 : name;
 }
 
 static File openWrite(FILESYSTEM* _fs, const char* filename) {
@@ -127,11 +131,17 @@ RegionEntry* RegionMap::findMatch(mesh::Packet* packet, uint8_t mask) {
     if ((region->flags & mask) == 0) {   // does region allow this? (per 'mask' param)
       TransportKey keys[4];
       int num;
-      if (region->name[0] == '#') {   // auto hashtag region
+      if (region->name[0] == '$') {   // private region
+        num = _store->loadKeysFor(region->id, keys, 4);
+      } else if (region->name[0] == '#') {   // auto hashtag region
         _store->getAutoKeyFor(region->id, region->name, keys[0]);
         num = 1;
-      } else {
-        num = _store->loadKeysFor(region->id, keys, 4);
+      } else {   // new: implicit auto hashtag region
+        char tmp[sizeof(region->name)];
+        tmp[0] = '#';
+        strcpy(&tmp[1], region->name);
+        _store->getAutoKeyFor(region->id, tmp, keys[0]);
+        num = 1;
       }
       for (int j = 0; j < num; j++) {
         uint16_t code = keys[j].calcTransportCode(packet);
@@ -147,9 +157,10 @@ RegionEntry* RegionMap::findMatch(mesh::Packet* packet, uint8_t mask) {
 RegionEntry* RegionMap::findByName(const char* name) {
   if (strcmp(name, "*") == 0) return &wildcard;
 
+  if (*name == '#') { name++; }  // ignore the '#' when matching by name
   for (int i = 0; i < num_regions; i++) {
     auto region = &regions[i];
-    if (strcmp(name, region->name) == 0) return region;
+    if (strcmp(name, skip_hash(region->name)) == 0) return region;
   }
   return NULL;  // not found
 }
@@ -157,11 +168,12 @@ RegionEntry* RegionMap::findByName(const char* name) {
 RegionEntry* RegionMap::findByNamePrefix(const char* prefix) {
   if (strcmp(prefix, "*") == 0) return &wildcard;
 
+  if (*prefix == '#') { prefix++; }  // ignore the '#' when matching by name
   RegionEntry* partial = NULL;
   for (int i = 0; i < num_regions; i++) {
     auto region = &regions[i];
-    if (strcmp(prefix, region->name) == 0) return region;  // is a complete match, preference this one
-    if (memcmp(prefix, region->name, strlen(prefix)) == 0) {
+    if (strcmp(prefix, skip_hash(region->name)) == 0) return region;  // is a complete match, preference this one
+    if (memcmp(prefix, skip_hash(region->name), strlen(prefix)) == 0) {
       partial = region;
     }
   }
@@ -220,9 +232,9 @@ void RegionMap::printChildRegions(int indent, const RegionEntry* parent, Stream&
   }
 
   if (parent->flags & REGION_DENY_FLOOD) {
-    out.printf("%s%s\n", parent->name, parent->id == home_id ? "^" : "");
+    out.printf("%s%s\n", skip_hash(parent->name), parent->id == home_id ? "^" : "");
   } else {
-    out.printf("%s%s F\n", parent->name, parent->id == home_id ? "^" : "");
+    out.printf("%s%s F\n", skip_hash(parent->name), parent->id == home_id ? "^" : "");
   }
 
   for (int i = 0; i < num_regions; i++) {
@@ -247,9 +259,10 @@ int RegionMap::exportNamesTo(char *dest, int max_len, uint8_t mask) {
   for (int i = 0; i < num_regions; i++) {
     auto region = &regions[i];
     if ((region->flags & mask) == 0) {   // region allowed? (per 'mask' param)
-      int len = strlen(region->name);
+      const char* name = skip_hash(region->name);
+      int len = strlen(name);
       if ((dp - dest) + len + 2 < max_len) {   // only append if name will fit
-        memcpy(dp, region->name, len);
+        memcpy(dp, name, len);
         dp += len;
         *dp++ = ',';
       }