title: What is this operand (*= star-equals) in SQL server 2000?
body: <p>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.</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * FROM tbl1 a, tbl2 b 
  WHERE a.id = b.id
  AND a.person_name *= b.person_name
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>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:</p>
  
  <pre><code>AND a.person_name * a.person_name = b.person_name
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>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?</p>