LIKE

The LIKE operator is used to match strings based on a pattern.

Syntax

column LIKE pattern [ESCAPE escape-character]

Remarks

The pattern string can contain wild-card characters that have special meaning:

•

% (percent sign). Matches any sequence of zero or more characters.

•

_ (underscore). Matches any single character.

Example (Like with Percent-Sign Match)

SELECT ProductID, ProductName, ProductDescription

FROM /shared/examples/ds_inventory/products products

WHERE ProductName LIKE 'Acme%'

The pattern matches Acme Memory, Acme Processor, and Acme Storage 40GB.

Example (Like with Underscore Match)

SELECT company, credit_limit

FROM customers

WHERE company LIKE 'Smiths_n'

The pattern matches Smithson and Smithsen, but not Smithsonian.

If the data value in the column is null, the LIKE test returns a NULL result.

You can locate strings that do not match a pattern by using NOT LIKE.

Example (Using The ESCAPE Character)

The ESCAPE character is used to match the wild-card characters themselves, as shown here.

SELECT order_num, product

FROM orders

WHERE product LIKE 'A$%BC%' ESCAPE '$'

The first percent sign is not treated as wild-card character, because it is preceded by the $ escape character.