I have a query that I pulled from ms sql 2000 and plugged into a MySql query. It did not work, MySql would choke on the \*= operator. In this example I have two varchar columns called person\_name.

```
SELECT * FROM tbl1 a, tbl2 b 
WHERE a.id = b.id
AND a.person_name *= b.person_name

```

I know in other languages myInt \*= myTotal could also be read as myInt \* myInt = myTotal. However, I'm working with varchars that contain all chars, no integers. I wrote it out like:

```
AND a.person_name * a.person_name = b.person_name

```

Voila! It appears to have worked. Can somebody explain what is happening? Is the \*= operator converting the chars to their integer equivalents or? And why couldn't I find this operator anywhere on the web?