How do I tell Agent Ransack to avoid a particular path/filename pattern?

Apparently you can exclude files now in the free version of Agent Ransack by using the following syntax:

NOT: *.dll; *.svn-base

It's not possible in the free version. Your best bet is to make sure you include the file extension and then it'll exclude the svn-base files, e.g.

*.cs;*.vb

As snowdude hinted FileLocator Pro (which is the paid version of "Agent Ransack"/"FileLocator Lite" same thing different name If you are willing to upgrade (or like me willing to persuade your boss it's a good investment!) then there is a feature specificity for this under Persistent Search Filter so once set it will always ignore ".svn", ".hg" and ".git"(for Yar!)

So if you have this version (or buy it) then you can click the little filter icon to the right of the "subfolders" tickbox (see this pic) and click "Exclude SVN/HG/GIT/CVS meta data folders" (even shows you the filter it uses so you can update it directly or copy it for other uses).

Hope this helps.