What symbol can be used to denote "contains"
Our UI has a table of data, with the first row containing input fields in each column for searching based off the data in that column. We want to add a dropdown that determines how that search text is used. We want to be able to do the following comparisons:
- Greater than (only retain rows that have values greater than the value specified)
- Less than (only retain rows that have values less than the value specified)
- Equals (only retain rows that have values equal to the value specified)
- Contains (only retain rows that have values that contain the value specified. For example, if the search text was "ee", the values "beet", "eel", and "fee" would match, but "beat" would not))
Space is at a premium, so ideally, each value in the dropdown would be one character. For the 1st three above, we would use ">", "<", and "=". However, I'm not sure what character could be used for "contains." Ideally, it would be a single character, but I could live with 2 or maybe even 3 characters. I just don't want to have use the word "contains". Is there any symbol that a user would intuitively recognize as meaning "contains"?
Also, we're considering being able to do a "starts with" and "ends with" search, so, if there are symbols that would tie in these 2 with the "contains" search, that would be of great help.
I should also note that the users probably won't know more than basic mathematical symbols. I'm hesitant to use some of the symbols mentioned in the current answers (⊂, ∊), because I'm not sure many users would recognize what they mean.