Using Wildcard Criteria in Reports

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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 'A%'.

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('%',???,'%')


Field	Criteria	Meaning
Last Name	Like '%son'	Last names ending in the string "son"
Last Name	Not Like '%son'	All last names, except those ending in the string "son"
Title	Like 'VP%'	Titles beginning with the string "VP"
Title	='President'	Titles exactly matching the word "President"
City	Like 'N_w%'	Will return "New York", but not "Norwalk"