The asterisk (*), percent sign (%), question mark (?), underscore character (_), number sign (#), exclamation point (!), hyphen (-), and brackets ([ ]) are wildcard characters. You can use these characters in queries and expressions to include all records, file names, or other items that begin with specific characters or match a certain pattern. You can also use wildcard characters and matching characters to further refine a search when using an SQL statement.
Note The percent sign (%) and underscore character (_) wildcards are only used when using the Microsoft� OLE DB Provider for Jet. They are not exposed through DAO or the Microsoft Access UI. They will be treated as literal values in DAO or the Access UI.
| Symbol | Example | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| * or % | wh* finds what, white, and why
*at finds cat, bat, and what |
Matches any number of characters, and can be used anywhere in the character string. |
| ? or _ | b?ll finds ball, bell, and bill | Matches any single character. |
| # | 1#3 finds 103, 113, 123 | Matches any single digit. |
| [ ] | b[ae]ll finds ball and bell but not bill | Matches any single character within the brackets. |
| ! | b[!ae]ll finds bill and bull but not bell or ball | Matches any character not in the list. |
| - | b[a-c]d finds bad, bbd, and bcd | Matches any one of a range of characters. |
Note The wildcard characters * (asterisk), ? (question mark), # (number sign), and [ (opening bracket) can match themselves only if enclosed in brackets.