Masking
You can also replace one or more letters within a word by a symbol. This is known as internal truncation or, more commonly, as masking. The symbols used for this are known as wildcards or jokers, usually a question mark (?). This may vary per database as could the number of characters which can be replaced by one symbol. Check the help file of the database concerned for further information on this.
Masking can be useful if you are doubtful about the spelling of a word or if the spelling differs.
Examples
| British and American spelling |
Globali?ation
Behavio?r
Col?r |
Globalisation Globalization Behavior Behaviour Color Colour |
