T-SQL - LIKE Clause

The MS SQL Server LIKE clause is used to compare a value to similar values using wildcard operators. There are two wildcards used in conjunction with the LIKE operator −

  • The percent sign (%)
  • The underscore (_)

The percent sign represents zero, one, or multiple characters. The underscore represents a single number or character. The symbols can be used in combinations.

Syntax

Following is the basic syntax of % and _.

SELECT *\column-list FROM table_name 
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX%' 
 
or   

SELECT *\column-list FROM table_name 
WHERE column LIKE '%XXXX%'  

or  

SELECT *\column-list FROM table_name 
WHERE column LIKE 'XXXX_'  

or  

SELECT *\column-list FROM table_name 
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX'  

or  

SELECT  *\column-list FROM table_name 
WHERE column LIKE '_XXXX_'

You can combine N number of conditions using AND or OR operators. XXXX could be any numeric or string value.

Example

Following are a number of examples showing WHERE part having different LIKE clause with '%' and '_' operators.

Sr.No Statement & Description
1

WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%'

Finds any values that start with 200
2

WHERE SALARY LIKE '%200%'

Finds any values that have 200 in any position
3

WHERE SALARY LIKE '_00%'

Finds any values that have 00 in the second and third positions
4

WHERE SALARY LIKE '2_%_%'

Finds any values that start with 2 and are at least 3 characters in length
5

WHERE SALARY LIKE '%2'

Finds any values that end with 2
6

WHERE SALARY LIKE '_2%3'

Finds any values that have a 2 in the second position and end with a 3
7

WHERE SALARY LIKE '2___3'

Finds any values in a five-digit number that start with 2 and end with 3

Consider the CUSTOMERS table having the following records.

ID  NAME       AGE       ADDRESS            SALARY 
1   Ramesh     32        Ahmedabad          2000.00 
2   Khilan     25        Delhi              1500.00 
3   kaushik    23        Kota               2000.00 
4   Chaitali   25        Mumbai             6500.00 
5   Hardik     27        Bhopal             8500.00 
6   Komal      22        MP                 4500.00 
7   Muffy      24        Indore             10000.00

Following command is an example, which will display all the records from CUSTOMERS table where SALARY starts with 200.

SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS 
WHERE SALARY LIKE '200%';

The above command will produce the following output.

ID   NAME     AGE     ADDRESS       SALARY 
1    Ramesh   32      Ahmedabad     2000.00 
3    kaushik  23      Kota          2000.00
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