What Does the Asterisk Mean in Access?

The asterisk (*) is a powerful symbol in Microsoft Access that serves multiple purposes. It is primarily used as a wildcard character, allowing you to perform flexible searches and data filtering operations.

Wildcard Character

* An asterisk represents one or more characters in a search string.
* When placed within quotation marks, it stands for any sequence of characters.
* For example, “ABC*” would match any value that starts with “ABC,” such as “ABCDE” or “ABCXYZ.”

LIKE Operator

* The LIKE operator is used with the asterisk to search for values that match a specific pattern or contain specific characters.
* The asterisk acts as a placeholder for any number of characters in the pattern.
* For instance, the expression “LIKE ‘ABC*'” would return all values that begin with “ABC.”

Data Filtering

* In queries, the asterisk can be used to filter data based on text criteria.
* By placing an asterisk before and after a search term, you can find records that contain that term anywhere within the field.
* For example, “Field1 LIKE ‘*John*'” would retrieve all rows where “Field1” includes the name “John.”

Other Uses

* Multiplication Operator: The asterisk can be used for multiplication, as in “10 * 20 = 200.”
* Join Operator: In Outer Joins, the asterisk represents all records from the left or right table, regardless of whether they have matches in the other table.
* Aggregate Function: The asterisk with the SUM() function returns the total of all values in a specified field.

Example

Consider the following table with the “Name” field:

| ID | Name |
|—|—|
| 1 | John Smith |
| 2 | Jane Doe |
| 3 | Michael Jones |
| 4 | Lisa Brown |

Using the LIKE operator:

* “LIKE ‘John*'” will return “John Smith” and “Michael Jones.”
* “LIKE ‘*Doe'” will return “Jane Doe.”
* “LIKE ‘*Lisa*'” will return “Lisa Brown.”

Conclusion

The asterisk is a versatile symbol in Access that enhances the flexibility of searches, queries, and data manipulation. By understanding its various uses, you can effectively filter and retrieve data, perform calculations, and create more robust queries.

Also Read: Can You Get Britbox On Xbox One

Recommend: Where Are Chaldeans From

Related Posts: What Is The Meaning Of Media Outlets

Also Read: How To Use A Name Tag In Minecraft

Recommend: How Many Calories In 1 2 Cup Blueberries