So called wildcards

[Lupp]

We had a related question (how to translate the LIKE operator of Excel-VBA for OpenOffice BASIC) in this forum recently, and LibreOffice since V5.2 is claimimg to be capable of 'F&R' and of calculations (with the SEARCH function e.g.) based on "Wildcards".

Thus I tried to learn a bit again. A preferred way to learn is (for me) to define a task, to search for the needed information, and to solve the task in steps. As a part of the learning I wrote a user function

Code: Select all

xInStr(pPattern As String, pTarget As String, Optional pHOSTmode As Long) As Long

to be able to use SEARCH on a per-call base either with literal patterns only or with RegEx or with Wildcard evaluation.

Well, the function works. This part was simple. But during the "research" I naturally tried to learn the specifications for calculations with 'Wildcards' in Excel (which surely is the target behind LibO's new feature concerning compatibility). I failed completely. Asking the Duck I got thousands of hits where "experts" explain the "how to use". But I cannot see on what basis they got to be experts. In fact it seems to be just guessing based on some experience. No specifications at all.

Now the questions:
-1- Where can I find a specification concerning syntax and semantics of 'Wildcards' and the operators and functions applying them in Excel?
-2- Are there some substantial examples of applying wildcards in Excel? Everything seems so blunt to me. The slightly enhanced examples I found do not work in LibO.

Thanks in advance.

[RPG]

I did found 84675 – Add missing BASIC function and constant documentation with some pdf's.

It seems also that LibreOffice works on the help file: Exclusive VBA functions