Introduction
A wildcard is a single-character placeholder that represents one or more characters. Wildcards are most frequently used when searching for a set of similar Chart of Account parameters within the Controller’s Office Reporting Toolkit reports. Wildcards allow users to specify a larger pool of information or restrict certain information included in report results. Different reports have varying levels of wildcard functionality which is dependent on the type of information and design of the report.
Wildcards can be used to broaden or limit the search results in the Controller's Office Reporting Tools lookups. This allows users to include or exclude specific accounts, subaccounts, fund groups, sub-fund groups and object codes on certain reports. Wildcards can be used in tandem with other Chart of Accounts parameters such as chart codes, org codes and RC codes, to produce specific results that otherwise could only be achieved manually. The main purpose of using wildcards is to eliminate manual entry of long strings of parameters that can be cumbersome and prone to errors.
How to Use Wildcards
The available wildcards within the Controller's Office Reporting Tools are detailed below:
To visualize the use of wildcards in the Controller’s Toolkit reports, see the following examples.
- Asterisk and Percentage wildcards: A user wants to run only 66 accounts for the Bloomington Auxiliary chart code (BA). To have the report generate results with only 66 accounts, the user will include either an asterisk * or percentage % sign after 66. This allows the report to search for matches on all account numbers that start with 66 (66-300-00, 66-397-65, etc.).
- ? wildcard: A user wants to run the report for accounts that start with 660 and end with 490 for the Bloomington Auxiliary chart code (BA). To have the report generate results with those account specifications, the user will include a question mark between the starting and ending numbers of the account. This allows the report to search for matches on all seven-digit account numbers that start with 660 and end with 490 (66-004-90, 66-014-90, etc.).
- A user wants to run the report for all fund groups under the School of Medicine RC code (RC 10) with the exception of plant funds (PF). To have the report generate results with that fund specification, the user will include an explanation mark before the fund group that is being excluded. This allows the report to search for matches on all fund groups within the School of Medicine (RC 10) expect for plant funds (PF).
