Allowed Syntax for Asterisk (*)

The asterisk is used for prefix searching in a query.

An asterisk can occur at the end of the query string, or be followed by a space, ampersand, vertical bar, closing bracket, or closing quotation mark. Any other usage of asterisk returns an error.

The table "Asterisk interpretations" shows allowable asterisk usage:

Asterisk interpretations
Query string	Equivalent to	Interpreted as
`'th*&best'`	`'th* AND best'`and `'th* best'`	Find any term beginning with th, and the term best.
`'th*\|best'`	`'th* OR best'`	Find either any term beginning with th, or the term best.
`'very&(best\|th*)'`	`'very AND (best OR th*)'`	Find the term very, and the term best or any term beginning with th.
`'"fast auto*"'`		Find the term fast, immediately followed by a term beginning with auto.
`'"auto* price"'`		Find a term beginning with auto, immediately followed by the term price.

Note: Interpretation of query strings containing asterisks varies depending on the text configuration object settings.