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Wildcards
Wildcards represent unknown characters. They are valid only in
English-language search queries.
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The asterisk (*) represents any group of characters, including no character.
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The question mark (?) represents any single character.
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The dollar sign ($) represents zero or one character.
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General Rules about Wildcards
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In Topic and Title searches, you must enter at least three characters before
using a wildcard.
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Wildcards may be used inside a word. For example, odo$r finds odor and odour.
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You cannot use wildcards after special characters (/ @ #) and punctuation (.
, : ; !).
- You cannot search on a wildcard if it appears in a word or name. For
example, the search TS=E*Trade OR TS="E*Trade" will not return
records about this investment company.
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Wildcards, Hyphens, and Apostrophes
The search engine treats hyphens (-) and apostrophes (') in names as spaces.
For example:
AU=O Brien returns the same number of results as
AU=O'Brien.
Try searching for names with and without a space. For example,
AU=OBrien OR AU=O Brien returns both variants
of the name.
When searching for hyphenated query terms, enter the term with and without
wildcards. For example:
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TS=hydro-power returns records that contain the terms
hydro-power and hydro power.
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TS=hydro*power returns records that contain the terms
hydropower and hydroelectricpower.
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TS=hydro power returns records that contain the terms hydro
and power anywhere in the record, such as hydro-power, hydro-electrical power,
and hydro-mechanical power.
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Useful Tips
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Asterisk (*) Examples
s*food matches:
seafood
soyfood
enzym* matches:
enzyme
enzymes
enzymatic
enzymic
Hof*man* matches:
Hofman
Hofmann
Hoffman
Hoffmann
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Question Mark (?) Example
wom?n matches:
woman
women
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Dollar Sign ($) Examples
colo$r matches:
color
colour
grain$ matches:
grain
grains
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Multi-wildcard Example
organi?ation* matches:
organisation
organisations
organisational
organization
organizations
organizational
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