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LIKE is
another keyword that is used in
the WHERE clause. Basically, LIKE
allows you to do a search based on
a pattern rather than specifying
exactly what is desired (as
in IN) or
spell out a range (as
in BETWEEN). The syntax for
is as follows:
SELECT
"column_name"
FROM "table_name"
WHERE "column_name"
LIKE {PATTERN}
{PATTERN} often consists of
wildcards. Here are some examples:
- 'A_Z':
All string that starts with
'A', another character, and
end with 'Z'. For example,
'ABZ' and 'A2Z' would both
satisfy the condition, while
'AKKZ' would not (because
there are two characters between
A and Z instead of one).
- 'ABC%':
All strings that start with
'ABC'. For example, 'ABCD'
and 'ABCABC' would both satisfy
the condition.
- '%XYZ':
All strings that end with
'XYZ'. For example, 'WXYZ'
and 'ZZXYZ' would both satisfy
the condition.
- '%AN%':
All string that contain the
pattern 'AN' anywhere. For
example, 'LOS ANGELES' and
'SAN FRANCISCO' would both
satisfy the condition.
Let's say we have the following
table:
Table Store_Information
| store_name |
Sales |
Date |
| LOS ANGELES |
$1500 |
Jan-05-1999 |
| SAN DIEGO |
$250 |
Jan-07-1999 |
| SAN FRANCISCO |
$300 |
Jan-08-1999 |
| BOSTON |
$700 |
Jan-08-1999 |
We want to find all stores
whose name contains 'AN'. To do
so,
SELECT
*
FROM Store_Information
WHERE store_name LIKE '%AN%'
Result:
| store_name |
Sales |
Date |
| LOS ANGELES |
$1500 |
Jan-05-1999 |
| SAN DIEGO |
$250 |
Jan-07-1999 |
| SAN FRANCISCO |
$300 |
Jan-08-1999 |
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