If statements with wild card searches

[tony O]

I want to put a condition in my if statement that asked
for a check of any data in a particular cell that is like
a certain string of text or contains a certain string of
text
What command can I use
=if(<cell a1> contains "abc<wildcard>"

I know "contains" doesn't work but was wondering if there
was something similar or if I was just using the text
incorrectly

 

[Dave Smith]

Try the SEARCH function

=IF(ISERROR(SEARCH("ab*","aaabdee")),"Not found", "Found")

-Dave