Using wildcard characters
For some searches, you may want to retrieve all records
that match only part of a data field. To do this, use the
wildcard character “%” (percent symbol) or “_”
(underscore).
“%” (the percent symbol) entered in a field means “any
character or string of characters.” You could use it, for
example, to search for the records of all employees with
the letters “Sm” at the beginning of their last names. To
retrieve records for “Smith,” “Smithson,” “Smallwood,”
“Smart,” etc., type
Sm% in the Last Name field and
choose the Retrieve button.
You can also type
Sm without the percent symbol to
perform the same search. The ID-4000 assumes that you
want to insert the wildcard character “%” at the end of
any entry in a field.
You can use the “%” wildcard anywhere in a character
series or by itself. Valid uses are
S%, Smi%, %, %h and
S%h.
Note: You cannot use the “%” wildcard in a numeric
field such as ID number.
Entering the “%” wildcard alone in a single field and
choosing the Retrieve button retrieves all records in the
database.
“_” (underscore) entered in a field means “any
character.” For example, you could use it to find the
records of all employees who have five-letter last names
beginning with the letters “Sm”. Type
Sm
_ _ _
in the
Last Name field and choose the Retrieve button to
retrieve all records with “Smith,” “Smyth,” “Smyle,”
“Small,” “Smart,” etc., in the Last Name field.
Using a simple search to find activities
Because the card history database records activities as
well as applicant data, you may want to search for
records containing specific activities. For example, you
may want to retrieve all card history records containing
the reissue activity to determine those applicants who
had badges reissued recently or to find the ID-4000
ID-4000 administration 5-75
