wildcard in where clause

[denniston]

is it possible to put a wildcard in the where clause?

i.e.
$des_manu=$_GET['desmanu'];
if ($des_manu == NULL){
$des_manu = "*";}

$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM guns WHERE cond = '$age' AND manu = '$des_manu'",$db) or die(mysql_error());

[piersk]

% is the wildcard for mysql IIRC

[denniston]

I tried that % in there too, but it takes it literally.
so in the search it look for '%' insteat of wildcard, but when i pass a value instead of the wildcard it works??