I know it goes back to at least 1981 with Z-DOS 1.x & PC-DOS 1.x which were MS variants when Microsoft was only OEM'ing their OS, and if I recall on some IBM editors you could do command line search and replace using a specified delimiter and an * was frequently used. I worked on an early PDP-11 which was UNIX but I cannot remember for sure but I think they used to as well. I also recall it being used in CPM, (pre-dates DOS) and so do I.
Scott E. Phillips Pinnacle Data Technologies, Inc. Office: 678-792-7792 Cell: 770-861-7850 Fax: 503-907-9780 "One cannot alter a condition with the same mindset that created it in the first place." Albert Einstein This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original. Any other use of the email by you is prohibited. On 2/4/13 10:48 AM, Matt Brown wrote: > > That's what you get when high-brow, "ivy tower" types put something in > writing and leave it to the minions to deal with! :) > > Curious about how far back the convention of the asterisk as "wildcard" > character began in computer science. > > Matt > ________________________________ > Matthew Brown > Senior eBusiness Analyst | eBusiness Standards & Practices > > Phone: 917-524-0594 > Fax: 212-999-7375 > [email protected] <mailto:mbrown%40easylink.com> > [email protected] <mailto:mabrown%40opentext.com> ⇐ Please add this > address to your address book > www.easylink.com > > > EasyLink is now OpenText. > > This email message is confidential, may be privileged, and is intended for > the exclusive use of the addressee. Any other person is strictly prohibited > from disclosing or reproducing it. If the > addressee cannot be reached or is unknown to you, please inform the sender by > return email and delete this email message and all copies immediately. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] <mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com> > [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of > Todd Gould > Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 8:24 AM > To: EDI--L > Subject: Re: [EDI-L] Your EDI Pet Peeves (a survey) > > The asterisk * was used in original X12 docs as a placeholder to represent > any character that would not create a conflict with the data and specifically > recommended against using it. > > > Regards, > > Todd Gould > Loren Data Corp. > > > * Don't forget to read the footnotes. > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > ... > Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: , , , , > , , > > Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: IS > REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix.Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > ------------------------------------ ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix.Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
