How to use wildcards

A common way to indicate a group of numbers that all have a similar pattern is by using wildcards.

If you have a series of numbers that all begin with 1631940xxxx, only the last four digits are different. To indicate this, you can use a question mark (?) to replace the digits which can vary. For example, 1631940???? can be used to represent 16319401234, 16319409890, or 16319403214.

The ? character can appear anywhere in a string. For example, 16319405?00 could represent 16319405000, 16319405100, 16319405200, 16319405300, 16319405400, 16319405500, 16319405600, 16319405700, 16319405800 or 16319405900.

An asterisk (*) can be used to replace any combination of characters, in any quantity. For example, 1631940* can be used to represent 16319401234, 16319409890, 16319401, 163194000000000.