Using Wildcard Criteria in Reports

A wildcard character is used in criteria to replace one or more unknown characters in the field. For example, if you need to display only names beginning with the letter “A”, then you would need to use a wildcard.

• Like - the "like" operator is used to retrieve values for a field, where a comparison is made between the value specified, and the value for that field in the database. For example: Like 'A%'. The percent sign - % matches any number of characters. It can be used in any position in the character string. Like 'miss%ga'.
• _ matches a single character. It can be used in any position in the character string. Like 'N_W%’

1. Display the Report Builder window.

2. Set the criteria for the first column to be Like ‘A5’.

3. Click the Build Query button.

4. Click the Save button.

5. Click the Preview button.

Two records are displayed matching the criteria.

6. Try each of the following criteria and note the results.

7. You can also try using the following syntax in the Criteria box in the report builder.

LIKE concat('%',???,'%')

Sounds Like

You can also use sounds like criteria. This uses the soundex phonetic algorithm feature.

• In the Calculated Field you should enter:

soundex([this])

• And in the criteria:

=soundex(???)

The column with this syntax is not normally displayed in the report, as it will display the soundex phonetic representation of the value rather than the word.