| Symbol | Use | Example |
| * | Matches any number of characters. | "Smit*" finds "Smitt", "Smith", "Smithers", etc. |
| ? | Matches any single character. | "Smit?" finds "Smitt", "Smith" but not "Smithers". |
| [] | Matches any single character within the brackets. | "b[iu]g" finds "big", "bug" but not "bag". |
| ! | Matches any character not in the brackets. | "b[!iu]g" finds "bag", "bog" but not "big", "bug". |
| - | Matches any one of a range of characters that you specify. | "[a-m]ag" finds "bag", "gag", "lag" but not "nag", "rag", "sag", "tag". |
| # | Matches any single numeric character. | "1#3" finds "123", "143" but not "1223", "1453". |