Implement specific record ordering with MySQL

To set specific record ordering, use ORDER BY LIKE. Let us first create a table−

mysql> create table DemoTable808(Value varchar(100));
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.61 sec)

Insert some records in the table using insert command −

mysql> insert into DemoTable808 values('smith');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.13 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable808 values('Adamsmith');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.18 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable808 values('Carolsmith');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.20 sec)
mysql> insert into DemoTable808 values('smithJohn');
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.16 sec)

Display all records from the table using select statement −

mysql> select *from DemoTable808;

This will produce the following output −

+------------+
| Value      |
+------------+
| smith      |
| Adamsmith  |
| Carolsmith |
| smithJohn  |
+------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Following is the query to set specific ordering −

mysql> select *from DemoTable808
order by case when Value like 'smith%' then 0 else 1 end asc,Value asc;

This will produce the following output −

+------------+
| Value      |
+------------+
| smith      |
| smithJohn  |
| Adamsmith  |
| Carolsmith |
+------------+
4 rows in set (0.00 sec)