Using relational operators and wildcard symbols in a search
You can use the relational operators or wildcard symbols in fields and in the advanced search bar.
Using relational operators in a search
Relational operators are useful in non-text fields (such as date and time fields) when you want to search for a value within a numerical range.
You can use the following relational operators as leading characters in fields in a form and in the advanced search bar.
Relational operators
Operator | Action |
|---|---|
< | Matches contents that are less than the value. |
> | Matches contents that are greater than the value. |
<= | Matches contents that are less than or equal to the value. |
>= | Matches contents that are greater than or equal to the value. |
= | Matches contents that are exactly equal to the value. |
!= | Matches contents that are not equal to the value. |
For example, to search for all requests created after a certain date, use the greater than (>) relational operator and specify a date and time format. For example, > "July 5, 2020" in the Create Date field finds all requests created after July 5, 2020. (Leaving out the time defaults the search criteria to 0:00:00, the start of the day.)
Using wildcard symbols in a search
When you specify search criteria to find requests, you can use the following wildcard symbols anywhere in a form to indicate one or more characters.
Wildcard | Function |
|---|---|
% (Percent) | % (Percent) |
_ (Underscore) | Matches any single character. For example: B_b matches Bab, Bob, and Bub. |
- (Hyphen) | Indicates a range. Always use within square brackets ([ ]). |
[ ] (Square brackets) | Matches any single character within a specified range or set. For example, [a-f] matches the range of characters a through f, and [abcf] matches the set of characters a, b, c, or f. Important: This behavior is database dependent. |
[^] (Square brackets with caret) | Matches any single character not within a specified range or set. For example, [^a-f] matches all characters except the range a through f, and [^abcf] matches all characters except a, b, c, or f. |
Wildcard symbols for searches
Use the percent symbol (%) to include leading or trailing characters in your search. For example, to find all requests submitted by Jill Bobbington, Bobby Fenton, and Bob Comptonson with an Anywhere search, enter *Bob%ton* in the Submitter field. The search returns all requests for which the Submitter field contains the strings "Bob" and "ton" in that order with any number of characters leading, trailing, and in between.
When used in a form, the percent sign (%), underscore (_), and open bracket ([) symbols always function as wildcard symbols except as follows, where they function as explicit characters:
- When you specify a relational operator (for example, > or =).
- When the field's default search style is Equal and you do not use a leading or trailing percent sign (%).
You can also override a field's search style by using a leading percent sign. For example, if the field's search style is Equal and you enter %Rob into the Submitter field, your search finds Robert Smith and Jim Robertson (not only equal matches to %Rob). However, if you use a leading percent sign, you lose any faster search times that would result from using the Equal or Leading search styles. See Search-styles-in-character-fields.
Example: Using search string
The following table describes an example of a search string and the output the details:
Search string example | Output | |
|---|---|---|
BMC Helix Innovation Studio | Mid Tier | |
'abcd%' | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd%'. However, 'abcd' is not returned. | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd'. |
'abcd_' | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd_'. | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd', but not 'abcd'. Returns all characters that contain 'abcd' followed by at least one more letter after 'abcd'. For example, 'abcde', but not 'abcd'. |
'abcd-' | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd-'. | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd-'. |
'abcd[' | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd['. Important: In BMC Helix Innovation Studio, if you use MS SQL database and use the opening square bracket ([) wildcard symbol, you must escape the opening square bracket ([) wildcard symbol with a backslash (\). | Returns all characters that contain 'abcd['. Important: In Mid Tier, if you use MS SQL database and use the opening square bracket ([) wildcard symbol, you must escape the opening square bracket ([) wildcard symbol with a backslash (\). However, for the PostgreSQL database, it does not honor the wildcard. |