Many areas of Estimation allow you to search a file to find a specific item manufacturer, etc. In some cases you may want to find all items beginning with a certain letter, for example. Wildcards let you accomplish this.
In searching procedures, the allowed wildcards are:
% Represents any group or length of characters.
Example: %ING% will find anything with the lettersINGin it (e.g., flashing, soldering iron). If you use the traditional * wildcard character, the program will automatically assume %.
_ (underscore) Represents any single character.
Example: _ope will find anything with four letters, the last of which are OPE (e.g., rope, dope). If you use the traditional ? wildcard character, the program will automatically convert it to _.
[] (pair of brackets) Represents any single character within the list or range enclosed in the brackets.
Examples: [A-D]% will find anything that begins with the letters A, B, C, or D; %[CK]able% finds anything containing the words "Cable" or "Kable".
[^] Will find any single character not within the list or range enclosed in brackets.
Example: Pencil[^0-9]% will find anything that begins with the word "Pencil" not immediately followed by a number.
For more information, see this example.