Truncation and masks⚓

Using masks allows you to search for words with the help of « variables » to replace one or several characters. You might wish, for example, to search for the words “médecine” and “medicine” (in French and in English).

The masks (or truncations) are placed in the middle or at the end of a search term, never at the start.

Here are the masks that can be used, and the characters they replace :

?, *

These replace an indefinite number of characters

Examples

nombre* will find nombre, nombres, nombreux

med*cine will find médecine and medicine

#

This replaces one or no character.

Example

nombre# will find nombre, nombres, but will not find nombreux or nombreuses (to do that, use ? or *.)

!

This replaces a single character.

Example

nombre! will find nombres, but will not find nombre or nombreux

Remarque :

You can combine several masks in the same search term.

Exemple : Examples⚓

micro?p* will find microcomputer, microscope, microprocessor, etc.

micro!p* will find microsphere, microoptics, etc.

Remarque :

It is also possible to use masks with digital search terms.

Exemple : Example⚓

199# will find from 1990 to 1999 as well as 199.