SQL Wildcards

SQL wildcards can be used when searching for data in a database.
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SQL Wildcards :

SQL wildcards can substitute for one or more characters when searching for data in a database.

SQL wildcards must be used with the SQL LIKE operator.

With SQL, the following wildcards can be used:

Wildcard Description :

% A substitute for zero or more characters
_ A substitute for exactly one character
[charlist] Any single character in charlist
[^charlist]
or

[!charlist]
Any single character not in charlist
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SQL Wildcard Examples :
We have the following "Persons" table:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
------------------------------------
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger
------------------------------------
Using the % Wildcard
Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "sa" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE City LIKE 'sa%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
-------------------------------------
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "nes" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE City LIKE '%nes%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
-------------------------------------

Using the _ Wildcard
Now we want to select the persons with a first name that starts with any character, followed by "la" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName LIKE '_la'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
------------------------------------
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "S", followed by any character, followed by "end", followed by any character, followed by "on" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE LastName LIKE 'S_end_on'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
-------------------------------------
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

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Using the [charlist] Wildcard
Now we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE LastName LIKE '[bsp]%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
------------------------------------
2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes
3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that do not start with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table.

We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE LastName LIKE '[!bsp]%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id LastName FirstName Address City
-----------------------------------
1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes