Wildcard character

Description

Example

%

Any string of zero or more characters.

WHERE title LIKE '%computer%' finds all book titles with the word 'computer' anywhere in the book title.

_ (underscore)

Any single character.

WHERE au_fname LIKE '_ean' finds all four-letter first names that end with ean (Dean, Sean, and so on).

[ ]

Any single character within the specified range ([a-f]) or set ([abcdef]).

WHERE au_lname LIKE '[C-P]arsen' finds author last names ending with arsen and starting with any single character between C and P, for example Carsen, Larsen, Karsen, and so on.

[^]

Any single character not within the specified range ([^a-f]) or set ([^abcdef]).

WHERE au_lname LIKE 'de[^l]%' all author last names starting with de and where the following letter is not l.

Literal

Verification

Symbol

%

If(@inputTerm contains (‘%’,’_’))

LIKE ‘[%]’

_

If(@inputTerm contains (‘%’,’_’))

LIKE ‘[_]’

[ ]

If(@inputTerm contains ('[]'))

LIKE ‘![!]’ ESCAPE ‘!’

[^]

If(@inputTerm contains ('[^]'))

LIKE ‘![!^!]’ ESCAPE ‘!’