Examples of use of Asterisk

Of course, matching only single characters has limitations. An asterisk matches any number of characters, including an absence of any character. For example, the pattern:

{ABC*}

matches these strings:

{ABC123}
{ABC }
{ABC}

but not:

{AB}     (This string is too short, missing the C)
{AB C}   (3rd position of pattern is not a blank)

You can also match against a variable number of characters at the beginning of a string.

The pattern:

{*ABC*}

matches these strings:

{XXABCYY}
{ABCYY}
{ABC}

but not:

{BCYYY}   (No ABC anywhere)
{ABYYY}

The asterisk wildcard character cannot be embedded in a pattern, however. This pattern is not legal:

{AB*CD}   (Embedded '*' wildcard)



 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*