Spread.Sheets Documentation
Wildcard Characters in a Formula
Spread.Sheets Documentation > Formula Reference > Formula Overview > Wildcard Characters in a Formula

You can use the wildcard character in formulas to search for values. The wildcard character can be used in formulas that have a criteria argument.

The following wildcard characters can be used as comparison criteria for functions when searching.

Character Finds Example
? (question mark) Any single character sm?th finds "smith" and "smyth"
* (asterisk) Any number of characters *east finds "Northeast" and "Southeast"
~ (tilde) followed by ?, *, or ~ A question mark, asterisk, or tilde fy91~? finds "fy91?"

The following formulas support the wildcard character:

The wildcard character can only be used with an equal string.

Using Code

This example uses the wildcard character to search for items that contain an "a".

JavaScript
Copy Code
activeSheet.setValue(0, 0, 'abc');
activeSheet.setValue(1, 0, 'ac');
activeSheet.setValue(2, 0, 'a*');
 
activeSheet.getCell(0, 1).formula('COUNTIF(A1:A3,"a*")');  //start with a
activeSheet.getCell(1, 1).formula('COUNTIF(A1:A3,"a?")');  //"a" and only one other character
activeSheet.getCell(2, 1).formula('COUNTIF(A1:A3,"a~*")'); // should be "a*"
See Also

Developer's Guide