How to use the LIKE Operator and Wildcard Characters in SQL
The SQL LIKE clause is used to compare a value to similar values using wildcard operators. There are two wildcards used in conjunction with the LIKE operator. The percent sign (%) The underscore (_) The percent sign represents zero, one or multiple characters. The underscore represents a single number or character. These symbols can be used in combinations.
Michael Esoimeme
The SQL LIKE clause is used to compare a value to similar values using wildcard operators. There are two wildcards used in conjunction with the LIKE operator.
- The percent sign (%)
- The underscore (_)
The percent sign represents zero, one or multiple characters. The underscore represents a single number or character. These symbols can be used in combinations.
Syntax
The basic syntax of % and _ is as follows −
SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX%'
or
SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE '%XXXX%'
or
SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX_'
or
SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX'
or
SELECT FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX_'
You can combine N number of conditions using AND or OR operators. Here, XXXX could be any numeric or string value.
https://youtu.be/9bOniezl7Qo video tutorial SQL LIKE CLAUSE
Example
The following table has a few examples showing the WHERE part having different LIKE clause with '%' and '_' operators −
Sr.No.Statement & Description
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%'
Finds any values that start with 200.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '%200%'
Finds any values that have 200 in any position.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '_00%'
Finds any values that have 00 in the second and third positions.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '2_%_%'
Finds any values that start with 2 and are at least 3 characters in length.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '%2'
Finds any values that end with 2.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '_2%3'
Finds any values that have a 2 in the second position and end with a 3.
WHERE SALARY LIKE '2___3'
Finds any values in a five-digit number that start with 2 and end with 3.
Let us take a real example, consider the CUSTOMERS table having the records as shown below.
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 2000.00 |
| 2 | Khilan | 25 | Delhi | 1500.00 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000.00 |
| 4 | Chaitali | 25 | Mumbai | 6500.00 |
| 5 | Hardik | 27 | Bhopal | 8500.00 |
| 6 | Komal | 22 | MP | 4500.00 |
| 7 | Muffy | 24 | Indore | 10000.00 |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
Following is an example, which would display all the records from the CUSTOMERS table, where the SALARY starts with 200.
SQL> SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%';
This would produce the following result −
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| ID | NAME | AGE | ADDRESS | SALARY |
+----+----------+-----+-----------+----------+
| 1 | Ramesh | 32 | Ahmedabad | 2000.00 |
| 3 | kaushik | 23 | Kota | 2000.00 |
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/sql/sql-like-clause.htm source material Tutorialpoint
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Michael Esoimeme
Am Michael is a data scientist who has received training in Python, SQL, HTML, and CSS. I enjoy teaching because it's enjoyable, and I want
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