Assume a list of objects with properties P1, P2, ... , Pk which is sorted using those properties.
Each property can be either a known value or a wildcard (*)
You have a set of properties S.
Is there a better method to determine if an object with properties that match S exists in the list other than linear search?
I know that without wildcards, it's a simple binary search with multiple keys, but wildcards tend make binary search difficult to implement as far as I can see.
Example:
You have the list
P1 P2 P3 L
1 1 3 A
1 5 2 B
3 2 6 C
5 4 2 D
5 * 2 E
* * * F
and the property set (5 3 3) which matches F
the property set (5 3 2) would match E