PAL

Ptolemaeus Arabus et Latinus

_ (the underscore) is the placeholder for exactly one character.
% (the percent sign) is the placeholder for no, one or more than one character.
%% (two percent signs) is the placeholder for no, one or more than one character, but not for blank space (so that a search ends at word boundaries).

At the beginning and at the end, these placeholders are superfluous.

Work A.1.8

Ptolemy
Almagesti (tr. Giambattista della Porta)

This translation is part of Giambattista della Porta’s translation of Theon of Alexandria’s Commentary on the Almagest. See C.1.30.7.