SQL WHERE LIKE Clause

Key Points

Use WHERE LIKE when only a fragment of a text value is known.

WHERE LIKE determines if a character string matches a pattern.

WHERE LIKE supports two wildcard match options: % and _.

List all products that are packaged in jars.

SELECT *
  FROM Product
 WHERE Package LIKE '%jars%'

SELECT *
  FROM Product
 WHERE Package LIKE '%jars%'

LIKE syntax.

SELECT column-names
  FROM table-name
 WHERE column-name LIKE value

Wildcard characters allowed in value are % (percent) and _ (underscore).

Problem: List all products with names that start with 'Ca'.

SELECT Id, ProductName, UnitPrice, Package
  FROM Product
 WHERE ProductName LIKE 'Ca%'

SELECT Id, ProductName, UnitPrice, Package
  FROM Product
 WHERE ProductName LIKE 'Ca%'

Result: 2 records.

Id	ProductName	UnitPrice	Package
18	Carnarvon Tigers	62.50	16 kg pkg.
60	Camembert Pierrot	34.00	15-300 g rounds

Another example

Problem: List all products that start with 'Cha' or 'Chan' and have one more character.

SELECT Id, ProductName, UnitPrice, Package
  FROM Product
 WHERE ProductName LIKE 'Cha_' OR ProductName LIKE 'Chan_'

SELECT Id, ProductName, UnitPrice, Package
  FROM Product
 WHERE ProductName LIKE 'Cha_' OR ProductName LIKE 'Chan_'

Result: 2 records.

Id	ProductName	UnitPrice	Package
1	Chai	18.00	10 boxes x 20 bags
2	Chang	19.00	24 - 12 oz bottles

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