Using wildcards to limit results

The user entered values for the various inputs on a form must be one of a given list of possible values. The quantity of possible values is many thousands, and as such autocomplete inputs will be used. The data has some structure and only the user knows the meaning of this structure, and the application does not have the ability to hint values based on the specific input field.

How should wildcards be used to limit results for an autocomplete form? Note that the user doesn't know regex and will not be expected to learn. For instance:

  1. Should the asterisk symbol be used?
  2. Should a wildcard be used as default at the start of the match string, or should they be required to enter the wildcard symbol?
  3. How can advanced wildcards be utilized so the user could select 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:CTL TEMP by using B161 and TEMP?
  4. If the user entered pattern returns many available results, how should the list be displayed (i.e. scroll bar, prompt to provide more characters, etc)?
  5. Any other recommendations?

enter image description here

+-----------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+---------------------+
|       Parameter       |           ValuesPoint            |             SetPoint              |     AlarmPoint      |
+-----------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+---------------------+
| Temperature           | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:CTL TEMP    | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:CTL STPT     | 6403.ECS.B161.RMTA  |
| Relative Humidity     | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:RM RH       | 6403.ECS.B161.RMHS                | 6403.ECS.B161.RMHA  |
| Air Changes           | 6403.ECS.B161.ACH                | 6403.ECS.B161.ACHS                | 6403.ECS.B161.ACHA  |
| Supply Air Flow       | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:SUP AIR VOL | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:SUP FLO STPT |                     |
| Exhaust Air Flow      | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:GEX AIR VOL | 6403.B1.SV.B161.PTEC:GEX FLO STPT |                     |
| Differential Pressure | 6403.ECS.B161.DP                 |                                   | 6403.ECS.B161.RMPA  |
| Lighting Level        | 6403.B1.EMS.B161.LVL             |                                   | 6403.B1.EMS.B161.LA |
| Light Status          | 6403.B1.EMS.B161.LIGHTS          |                                   | 6403.B1.EMS.B161.LA |
+-----------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+---------------------+
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