The SQL LIKE Operator
The LIKE operator is used in a
WHERE
There are two wildcards often used in conjunction with the
LIKE
- The percent sign
%represents zero, one, or multiple characters - The underscore sign
_represents one, single character
Example
Select all customers that starts with the letter “a”:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a%';
Syntax
SELECT column1, column2, ... FROM table_name WHERE columnN LIKE pattern;
Demo Database
Below is a selection from the Customers table used in the examples:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfreds Futterkiste | Maria Anders | Obere Str. 57 | Berlin | 12209 | Germany |
| 2 | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | Ana Trujillo | Avda. de la Constitución 2222 | México D.F. | 05021 | Mexico |
| 3 | Antonio Moreno Taquería | Antonio Moreno | Mataderos 2312 | México D.F. | 05023 | Mexico |
| 4 | Around the Horn | Thomas Hardy | 120 Hanover Sq. | London | WA1 1DP | UK |
| 5 | Berglunds snabbköp | Christina Berglund | Berguvsvägen 8 | Luleå | S-958 22 | Sweden |
The _ Wildcard
The _ wildcard represents a single character.
It can be any character or number, but each _ represents one, and only one, character.
Example
Return all customers from a city that starts with ‘L’ followed by one wildcard character, then ‘nd’ and then two wildcard characters:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE city LIKE 'L_nd__';
The % Wildcard
The % wildcard represents any number of characters, even zero characters.
Example
Return all customers from a city that contains the letter ‘L’:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE city LIKE '%L%';
Starts With
To return records that starts with a specific letter or phrase, add the % at the end of the letter or phrase.
Example
Return all customers that starts with ‘La’:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'La%';
Tip: You can also combine any number of conditions using
ANDOR operators.
Example
Return all customers that starts with ‘a’ or starts with ‘b’:
SELECT * FROM Customers WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a%' OR CustomerName LIKE 'b%';
Ends With
To return records that ends with a specific letter or phrase, add the % at the beginning of the letter or phrase.
Example
Return all customers that ends with ‘a’:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%a';
Tip: You can also combine “starts with” and “ends with”:
Example
Return all customers that starts with “b” and ends with “s”:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'b%s';
Contains
To return records that contains a specific letter or phrase, add the % both before and after the letter or phrase.
Example
Return all customers that contains the phrase ‘or’
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%or%';
Combine Wildcards
Any wildcard, like % and _ , can be used in combination with other wildcards.
Example
Return all customers that starts with “a” and are at least 3 characters in length:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a__%';
Example
Return all customers that have “r” in the second position:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '_r%';
Without Wildcard
If no wildcard is specified, the phrase has to have an exact match to return a result.
Example
Return all customers from Spain:
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country LIKE 'Spain';