SQL LIKE Operator

The SQL LIKE operator is used in a SQL WHERE clause to filter or extract records for a specified pattern using wildcards (character string matches a pattern) in a table column.

You can use SQL LIKE operator when only a fragment of a text value of a column is known to search.

The SQL LIKE operator supports only text based columns like "CHAR", "VARCHAR" or "TEXT" to match a pattern.

The SQL LIKE operator can be used with in any valid SELECT SQL statement.

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SQL LIKE Syntax

The basic syntax is :


SELECT column_name1, column_name2 FROM table_name 
WHERE column_name LIKE 'search pattern';

Sample Database Table - Books

BookId	BookName	BookPrice	RelYear	DomainName	AuthorName
1	A Visual Introduction To Sql	70	2008	Administration	Nirmala
2	SQL Server 2008 Transact-Sql	170	2010	Database	Ramanathan
3	SQL Functions Reference	205	2015	Optimization	Vinoth Kumar
4	Complete Guide To No-SQL	195	2010	Database	Ranjani Mai

SQL LIKE Operator Example

The following SQL SELECT statement selects the all books with a BookName starting "Sql", in the "Books" table:


SELECT * FROM Books 
WHERE 
BookName LIKE 'Sql%';

The result of above query is:

BookId	BookName	BookPrice	RelYear	DomainName	AuthorName
2	SQL Server 2008 Transact-Sql	170	2010	Database	Ramanathan
3	SQL Functions Reference	205	2015	Optimization	Vinoth Kumar

The following SQL SELECT statement selects the all books with a BookName ending "Sql", in the "Books" table:


SELECT * FROM Books 
WHERE 
BookName LIKE '%Sql';

The result of above query is:

BookId	BookName	BookPrice	RelYear	DomainName	AuthorName
1	A Visual Introduction To Sql	70	2008	Administration	Nirmala
2	SQL Server 2008 Transact-Sql	170	2010	Database	Ramanathan
4	Complete Guide To No-SQL	195	2010	Database	Ranjani Mai

SQL LIKE Operator Example With Multiple Columns

The following SQL SELECT statement selects the all books with a BookName starting "Sql" and Relyear ending "0", in the "Books" table:


SELECT * FROM Books 
WHERE 
BookName LIKE 'Sql%' AND RelYear LIKE '%0';

The result of above query is:

BookId	BookName	BookPrice	RelYear	DomainName	AuthorName
2	SQL Server 2008 Transact-Sql	170	2010	Database	Ramanathan

SQL NOT LIKE Operator Example

The SQL LIKE condition can use with the SQL NOT operator.

The following SQL SELECT statement selects the all books with a BookPrice not starting "1", in the "Books" table.


SELECT * FROM Books 
WHERE 
BookPrice NOT LIKE '1%';

The result of above query is:

BookId	BookName	BookPrice	RelYear	DomainName	AuthorName
1	A Visual Introduction To Sql	70	2008	Administration	Nirmala
3	SQL Functions Reference	205	2015	Optimization	Vinoth Kumar

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You can also search these topics using wildcard search sql, sql keyword search, sql string contains, sql contains string, sql query contains, sql partial string match, sql regex replace, oracle regexp match, oracle pattern matching, sql pattern matching, sql server like command.