Greetings on our blog today! If you utilize Jira, a product for tracking issues created by Atlassian, you may already be acquainted with its search feature. However, were you aware that you can enhance your Jira search through the use of the potent wildcard capability? Wildcards offer versatility and increase efficiency when seeking out particular issues. In this article, we will be delving into how to conduct a wildcard search in Jira.
What is a Wildcard Search?
A wildcard is a symbol that stands for one or more characters in a search string. Two commonly used wildcard characters are the asterisk (*) and the question mark (?). The asterisk (*) represents multiple characters, while the question mark (?) stands for a single character.
Wildcards in Jira
In Jira, you can use wildcard characters in your search query. However, it’s important to note that wildcards can only be used in text fields.
How to Use Wildcards in Jira
Now, let’s delve into how to use wildcard characters in Jira.
1. Using the Asterisk (*)
The asterisk (*) stands for zero or more characters. It’s commonly used when you want to find issues that contain variations of a word. For example, suppose you want to find all issues that contain the word “test”, “tester”, or “testing”. Instead of searching for each word separately, you could use one search query with a wildcard.
Here is an example of how to use the asterisk wildcard:
summary ~ "test*"
The above query will return all issues with a summary containing words that start with “test”.
2. Using the Question Mark (?)
The question mark (?) stands for exactly one character. It’s useful when you know the exact length of the word you’re searching for, but you’re unsure about one of the characters.
Here is an example of how to use the question mark wildcard:
summary ~ "te?t"
The above query will return all issues with a summary containing four-letter words starting with “te” and ending with “t”, such as “test” or “tent”.
Summary
The wildcard search functionality in Jira is a powerful tool to streamline your search process. With the asterisk (*) and the question mark (?), you can refine your search and find exactly what you’re looking for. Remember, practice makes perfect! So, don’t hesitate to experiment with different search queries to maximize your efficiency within Jira. Happy searching!