A metacharacter is a character that has a special meaning when it is entered as a search criteria. Metacharacters allow you to customize your search parameters to help refine the set of records selected as a result of your search.

The following Metacharacters are supported by all search options within NLS, provided that they are entered into fields with a data-type appropriate to that operation.

~ (Range)	The tilde is used to select a range of values. The tilde may be used to select a range in a date field, a string field, or an amount field. The date must be entered in the mm/dd/yyyy format or as configured by the UDP:DATEFMT setting. This metacharacter is defined by the UDP:RANGE_METACHAR setting in System Defaults. Example Entering 05/12/2023~08/22/2023 into the Setup Date field, and clicking , will bring up a selected set of contacts (or loans if you are on the loan query screen) that were entered into the system between May 12, 2023 and August 22, 2023. Example Entering 10000~100000 into the Principal field of Loan Query and clicking will bring up a selected set of loans with a current principal balance between $10,000 and $100,000.
| (Or)	The vertical bar is used to select a list of values. This allows you to enter several dates or amounts into a field to be used as search parameters. This metacharacter is defined by the UDP:FIELDSEPCHAR setting in System Defaults. Example Entering 07/05/2023|07/17/2023 into the Setup Date field and then clicking will bring up a set of Contacts or Loans that were entered into the system on July 5, 2023 or July 17, 2023.
> (Greater than)	The greater than sign is used to select all values greater than a specified value. Example Entering >10000 into the Principal field of Loan Query and clicking will bring up a selected set of loans including all loans with a current principal balance which is greater than $10,000.
< (Less than)	The less than sign is used to select all values less than a specified value. Example Entering <07/05/2023 into the Setup Date field and then clicking will bring up a set of Contacts or Loans that were entered into the system before July 5, 2023.
>= (Greater than or equal to)	The greater than or equal to sign is used to select all values greater than a specified value or equal to a specified value. It is a greater than sign which includes the specified value in the selected set instead of limiting the selected set to those values which are definitely greater than the specified value. Example A loan with a principal balance of exactly $10,000 would not be included in the selected set for a search that was based on the search parameter >10000. It would be included if the search parameter was >=10000.
<= (Less than or equal to)	The less than or equal to sign is used to select all values less than a specified value or equal to a specified value.
!= (Not equal to)	The not equal to sign is used to exclude the specified value from the search result. Example Entering !=07/05/2023 into the Setup Date field and then clicking will bring up a set of Contacts or Loans that were entered into the system other than on July 5, 2023.
_ (Any single character)	The underscore is used in searches on text string fields to represent a single character. This metacharacter is defined by the UDP:SINGLECHAR_METACHAR setting in System Defaults. Example If you want to search for all contacts where the second letter in the last name is O, enter _O in the Last Name field. The underscore represents the first character, allowing it to have any value, and the second character must be O in order to match the criteria for the search.
% (Wildcard)	The wildcard is used in searches on text string fields to represent one or more characters. This metacharacter is defined by the UDP:MULTICHAR_METACHAR setting in System Defaults. Example When searching for a contact using the Last Name field, entering B% and clicking will bring up a selected set of contacts with last names beginning with B. Example The same search using the parameter BU% would include the names Buckner and Busch, but would not include Bailey or Becker. Note If the Enable Auto Wildcard option is enabled (in the Actions menu) you do not need to place % after the B to get all names beginning with that letter. It is automatically assumed to be at the end of all string searches. The wildcard would still be required for the search: B%R, which would return Buckner and Becker, but not Busch or Bailey. By default, the Auto-Wildcard is on.
ISNULL	Type ISNULL into any field and click to receive a selected set including all records where that field has no value. Note Zero is a value and is not null.
ISNOTNULL	Type ISNOTNULL into any field and click Get Query to receive a selected set including all records where that field has any value.
TODAY	The current system date.