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Wildcards, such as the asterisk (*) and the question mark (?), and
logical operators, such as AND (&) and OR (|), are used extensively in
Standard Search. These operators or wildcards narrow the search,
decreasing search time, When a database contains a large
amount of data, a global search with no specific conditions can slow the
system, resulting in a long search time, and many unnecessary results.
Therefore, wildcards and logical operators can help you save time and
improve your search results. In the Standard Search feature, you can
enter a value or a portion of the value for a property using wildcards.
These wildcard characters are valid for Standard Search:
- Question Mark (?) - Use this to represent one character.
For example, if you know that an item number starts with "AB" and
ends with a single variable character; ABC, ABB, and ABD, then all
items that start with AB and end on one single character are
displayed.
- Asterisk (*) - Use this to represent one or more characters.
For example, if you know that an item number starts with AB, you
would enter AB*. Therefore, all items that start with AB are
displayed.
Searches can be refined using relational operators such as AND (&),
OR (|), and NOT (!). These operators allow you to search for
multiple values for the same property, or to specify what not to include
in a search. These are some of the relational operators that are
valid for Standard Search.:
- | (the pipe - relational OR operator) - use this to have CES
search for one term or another. For example, if you know that
an item number starts with AB or BA, enter AB*|BA*. All item
numbers that start with AB or BA are displayed.
- ! (The exclamation point - relational operator NOT) - use this
to search for an item that does not contain one or more characters.
For example, if you know that an item number does not start with A,
enter !A*. All item numbers that start with letters other than
A are displayed>
- & (the ampersand - relational operator AND) - use this to search
for items that contain two or more groups of characters. For
example, if you know that an item number starts with A, but also
contains 123, enter A*&*123*. All item numbers that start
with A
and contain 123 are displayed.
This table provides examples, and details the use of wildcards and
operators:
To search for... |
Enter... |
An item AB123 |
AB123 |
An item number that starts with "AB", for example, ABC or AB123 |
AB* |
An item number that ends with "2345", for example, 12345 and ABC12345 |
*2345 |
An item number that contains "AB" anywhere in the string |
*AB* |
An item number that starts with "H" or "I" |
H* | I* |
An item number starts with "AB" and ends with a single variable
character, for example, ABC, ABB, and ABD |
AB? |
An item number ends with "BC" and starts with a single variable
character, for example ABC, BBC, and CBC |
?BC |
An item number that starts with "A: and ends with "C" and contains a
single variable character, for example ABC, AAC or ACC |
A?C |
An item number starting with "A", and containing "123" |
A* & *123* |
An item number starts with "A" and ends with two variable characters,
for example AAC, ABC or ACC. |
A?? |
An item number that ends in "C" and beings with two variable
characters, for example, ABC, ACC, or ADC |
??C |
An item number that contains "B" and begins and ends with a variable
character, for example ABC, CBA, ABB, or BBA |
?B? |
- Enter asterisk (*) to represent one or more characters: If the you
knows that an item number starts with AB, enter AB*. All items results
start with AB are displayed.
- Enter question mark (?) to represent one character: If you know that
an item number starts with AB, but do not know the last character, enter
AB?.
- Enter pipe (|) to have CES search for one term or another: If you
know that an item number starts with AB or BA, enter AB*|BA*. All item
numbers that start with AB or BA are displayed.
- Enter exclamation mark (!) to search for an item that does not contain
one or more characters: If you know that an item number does not start
with A, enter !A*. All item numbers that start with letters other than A
are displayed.
- Enter Ampersand (&) to search for items that contains two or more
groups of characters: If you know that an item number starts with A,
but also contains 123, enter A*&*123*. All item numbers that start
with A
and contain 123 are displayed.
This table provides relational operators valid for internal searches.
Further, you can use and combine wildcards, and relational operators in the
procedures mentioned in Standard Search.
Operator |
Definition |
Example |
> |
Greater than |
>20 |
>= |
Greater than or equal to |
>=20 |
< |
Lesser than |
<20 |
<= |
Less than or equal to |
<=20 |
= |
Equal |
=20 |
!= |
Not Equal |
!=20 |
: |
Inclusive range |
20:30 |
! |
NOT |
!20:30 |
& |
AND |
>30 & <35 |
| |
OR |
30|40 |
() |
Groupings |
(20:30) | (30:40) |
@ |
NULL |
@ |
!@ |
NOT NULL |
!@ |
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