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LIKE operator
In SQL, Operators are special character, symbol or a keyword that is used to perform some specific operations. For example : comparing data
SQL operators are commonly used with SQL statements to retrieve, filter, and manipulate data.
LIKE operator :
LIKE operator act as a search engine that searches for the specified pattern or substring in a column. It is used in 'WHERE' clause to filter and retrieve specific data.
• Pattern refers to a sequence of characters in SQL. It can be a single or multiple character.
The syntax of the LIKE operator generally looks like this :
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column LIKE pattern;
• Specify the column(s) name after the 'SELECT' keyword.
• Specify Asterisk (*) symbol to selects all columns from the table after the 'SELECT' keyword.
• Specify the table name after the 'FROM' keyword.
• Specify the conditions after the 'WHERE' keyword.
• Specify the pattern after the 'LIKE' keyword.
Here's an example of how you might use the LIKE operator :
1. Let's assume we have a table named "[Employees]".
Case - 1 :
Let's assume you want to retrieve employee data from [Employees] table where Employee_Name starts with character 'A'.
Run below SQL statement :
SELECT *
FROM [Employees]
WHERE Employee_Name LIKE 'A%';
Above statement will retrieve employee data where Employee_Name starts with character 'A'.
Case - 2 :
Let's assume you want to retrieve employee data from [Employees] table where Employee_Name ends with character 'Y'.
Run below SQL statement :
SELECT *
FROM [Employees]
WHERE Employee_Name LIKE '%Y';
Above statement will retrieve employee data where Employee_Name ends with character 'Y'.
Case - 3 :
Let's assume you want to retrieve employee data from [Employees] table where Employee_Name has character 'OL' as the second and third character.
Run below SQL statement :
SELECT *
FROM [Employees]
WHERE Employee_Name LIKE '_OL%';
Above statement will retrieve employee data where Employee_Name has character 'OL' as the second and third character.
Case - 4 :
Let's assume you want to retrieve employee data from [Employees] table where Employee_Name has character 'A' anywhere.
Run below SQL statement :
SELECT *
FROM [Employees]
WHERE Employee_Name LIKE '%A%';
Above statement will retrieve employee data where Employee_Name has character 'A' anywhere.
