19. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer-readable storage medium including thereon sequences of instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to: group single fields of a multiple-field source in a computer memory into a plurality of multiple-field keys (MFKs) of a search target, each MFK of the search target having single fields that correspond to single fields in one of a plurality of multiple-field vectors (MFVs) of entries in a data structure; generate a set of queries based, at least in part, on the MFKs, wherein each query includes one or more of the plurality of MFKs and wherein each query has a different MFK as a lead MFK; use a query to determine whether the non-wildcard values in the MFVs of an entry match the non-wildcard values in corresponding MFKs of the search target; and: if an entry has non-wildcard values in the MFVs that match the corresponding non-wildcard values in the MFKs, then performing an operation associated with the matching entry; or if no entry has non-wildcard values in the MFVs that match the corresponding non-wildcard values in the MFKs, then use the queries to determine whether the entry has non-wildcard values in a MFV that match the non-wildcard values in a corresponding lead MFK, and whether remaining MFVs of the entry match corresponding remaining MFKs based on matching the non-wildcard values and wildcard values.
19. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer-readable storage medium including thereon sequences of instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to: group single fields of a multiple-field source in a computer memory into a plurality of multiple-field keys (MFKs) of a search target, each MFK of the search target having single fields that correspond to single fields in one of a plurality of multiple-field vectors (MFVs) of entries in a data structure; generate a set of queries based, at least in part, on the MFKs, wherein each query includes one or more of the plurality of MFKs and wherein each query has a different MFK as a lead MFK; use a query to determine whether the non-wildcard values in the MFVs of an entry match the non-wildcard values in corresponding MFKs of the search target; and: if an entry has non-wildcard values in the MFVs that match the corresponding non-wildcard values in the MFKs, then performing an operation associated with the matching entry; or if no entry has non-wildcard values in the MFVs that match the corresponding non-wildcard values in the MFKs, then use the queries to determine whether the entry has non-wildcard values in a MFV that match the non-wildcard values in a corresponding lead MFK, and whether remaining MFVs of the entry match corresponding remaining MFKs based on matching the non-wildcard values and wildcard values. 22. The article of manufacture of claim 19 , wherein the non-wildcard values comprise a fixed value, a range of fixed values, or both.