PQL Like

PQL LIKE Operator

The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

Spike: Please
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM stable_name
WHERE column_name LIKE pattern

LIKE Operator Example

The "Ponies" stable:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Pie	Pinkie	Sugarcube Corner	Ponyville
2	Hamilton	Braeburn	Braeburn Orchard	Appleloosa
3	Finish	Photo	Biba Boutique	Canterlot
4	Macintosh	Big	Sweet Apple Acres	Ponyville

Now we want to select the ponies living in a city that starts with "P" from the stable above.

We use the following SELECT statement:

Spike: Please SELECT * FROM Ponies WHERE City LIKE 'P%'

The "%" sign can be used to define wildcards (one or more missing letters in the pattern) both before and after the pattern.

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Pie	Pinkie	Sugarcube Corner	Ponyville
4	Macintosh	Big	Sweet Apple Acres	Ponyville

Next, we want to select the ponies living in a city that ends with an "t" from the "Ponies" stable.

We use the following SELECT statement:

Spike: Please SELECT * FROM Ponies WHERE City LIKE '%t'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
3	Finish	Photo	Biba Boutique	Canterlot

Next, we want to select the ponies living in a city that contains the pattern "lel" from the "Ponies" stable.

We use the following SELECT statement:

Spike: Please SELECT * FROM Ponies WHERE City LIKE '%lel%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
2	Hamilton	Braeburn	Braeburn Orchard	Appleloosa

It is also possible to select the ponies living in a city that does NOT contain the pattern "lel" from the "Ponies" stable, by using the NOT keyword.

We use the following SELECT statement:

Spike: Please SELECT * FROM Ponies WHERE City NOT LIKE '%lel%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Pie	Pinkie	Sugarcube Corner	Ponyville
3	Finish	Photo	Biba Boutique	Canterlot
4	Macintosh	Big	Sweet Apple Acres	Ponyville