You can use placeholders within search terms. This way you can search for values that begin with a specific letter or that match a specific sample character string. The same placeholders are allowed here that are allowed in MS Access.
|
Characters |
Usage |
Example |
|---|---|---|
|
* |
This character represents an unlimited number of characters. It can be used as either the first or last character in a character string. |
Searching for wa* will result in wax, want, wait, etc. |
|
? |
This symbol represents an individual character. |
Searching for h?t will result in hat, hut, hit, etc. |
|
[ ] |
This character represents one individual character within the brackets. |
Searching for h[au]t will result in hat and hut, but not hit. |
|
! |
This character represents one individual character that is NOT in the brackets. |
Searching for h[!au]t will result in hit and hot, but not hat and hut. |
|
- |
This character represents one individual character within the indicated range. You have to enter the range in ascending order (A to Z, not Z to A). |
Searching for b[a-c]d will result in bad, bbd and bcd. |
|
# |
This character represents one single number. |
Searching for 1#3 will result in 103, 113, 123. |
Placeholders are intended for use in fields of data type "Text", but they can sometimes also be used with other data types, such as the "Date" data type, if you do not change the country settings for these data types.
Special characters
If you search for an asterisk (*), question mark (?), a number (#), an open bracket ([) or a hyphen (-) you have to place the character you are looking for in brackets.
Example: If you are searching for a question mark, enter the value [?] in the Find what dialog field.
If you are searching for an exclamation mark (!) or a closed bracket, you do not have to place them in brackets.
If you are searching simultaneously for a hyphen and other characters, place the hyphen either before or after all of the other characters within the brackets. If, however, an exclamation mark (!) follows the opening bracket, place the hyphen after the exclamation mark.
You can't search simultaneously for an opening and closing bracket ([ ]) because this combination is interpreted as an empty character string. You have to place the opening and closing brackets in brackets ([[ ]]).
See also