Using the Ellipsis, Period, and Asterisk Wildcards Using the ellipsis wildcard allows you to conduct a broad search of an entire directory structure. If you begin the directory specification with an ellipsis, the search begins from the current directory. If you begin the directory specification with a period, only the subdirectory that is one level lower in the directory structure than the current directory is searched. To search all top level directories and their subdirectories from wherever you are in the directory structure, use the asterisk (*) wildcard character, followed by an ellipsis. Additional topics: * Using the Hyphen (-) Wildcard * Using Wildcards to Copy an Entire Directory Structure