protected function addBackticks($string) {
        $parts = explode('.', $string);
        $result = '';
        foreach($parts as $i => $part) {
            $result .= ($i > 0 ? '.' : '');
            if($part !== '*') {
                $result .= '`' . $part . '`';
            } else {
                $result .= $part;
            }
        }
        return $result;
    }