- Syntax of LIKE Operator –
SELECT column1,column2,column3,...,columnN FROM table_name
WHERE columnN LIKE pattern ;
Let’s see the purpose of each wildcard with the LIKE Operator demonstrated with an example-
Demo Table –
Product Table
| Category | Region | City | Country | Customer_ID | Customer_name |
| Office Supplies | Central | Chicago | United States | SM-20950 | Suzanne McNair |
| Technology | East | New York City | United States | AH-10465 | Amy Hunt |
| Office Supplies | East | New York City | United States | AH-10465 | Amy Hunt |
| Office Supplies | East | Dover | United States | EP-13915 | Emily Phan |
| Office Supplies | East | Dover | United States | EP-13915 | Emily Phan |
| Technology | West | Aurora | United States | TP-21565 | Tracy Poddar |
| Office Supplies | West | Aurora | United States | TP-21565 | Tracy Poddar |
| Office Supplies | East | Long Beach | United States | AR-10825 | Anthony Rawles |
| Office Supplies | West | Pasadena | United States | HA-14920 | Helen Andreada |
| Furniture | West | Pasadena | United States | HA-14920 | Helen Andreada |
Wildcard ( % ) with LIKE Operator
Example – Consider the Product table of the Customer database where we want to get those customer names whose name starts with “a”.SELECT Category,Region,City,[Country/Region],[Customer ID],[Customer Name] FROM [dbo].[Products]
WHERE [Customer Name] LIKE 'A%';
This output is the small section of the output by executing the above query –
| Category | Region | City | Country | Customer_ID | Customer_name |
| Technology | East | New York City | United States | AH-10465 | Amy Hunt |
| Office Supplies | East | New York City | United States | AH-10465 | Amy Hunt |
Wildcard ( _ ) with LIKE Operator
Example – Consider the Product table of the Customer database where we want to get those customer names whose name “d” as their second letter and “r” as their third letter.SELECT [Customer Name],City,[Country/Region] FROM [dbo].[Products]
WHERE [Customer Name] LIKE '_uz';
This output is the small section of the output by executing the above query –
| Category | Region | City | Country | Customer_ID | Customer_name |
| Office Supplies | Central | Chicago | United States | SM-20950 | Suzanne McNair |
Wildcard ( [characters] ) with LIKE Operator
Example – Consider the Product table of the Customer database where we want to get those customer names whose name starts with either “a” or “y”.SELECT [Customer Name],City,[Country/Region] FROM [dbo].[Products]
WHERE [Customer Name] LIKE '[AE]%';
This output is the small section of the output by executing the above query –
| Category | Region | City | Country | Customer_ID | Customer_name |
| Technology | East | New York City | United States | AH-10465 | Amy Hunt |
| Office Supplies | East | New York City | United States | AH-10465 | Amy Hunt |
| Office Supplies | East | Dover | United States | EP-13915 | Emily Phan |
Wildcard ( [^ characters] ) with LIKE Operator
Example – Consider the Product table of the Customer database where we want to get those customer names whose names do not start with either “a” or “y”.SELECT [Customer Name],City,[Country/Region] FROM [dbo].[Products]
WHERE [Customer Name] LIKE '[^AE]%';
This output is the small section of the output by executing the above query –
| Category | Region | City | Country | Customer_ID | Customer_name |
| Office Supplies | Central | Chicago | United States | SM-20950 | Suzanne McNair |
| Technology | West | Aurora | United States | TP-21565 | Tracy Poddar |
| Office Supplies | West | Aurora | United States | TP-21565 | Tracy Poddar |
| Office Supplies | West | Pasadena | United States | HA-14920 | Helen Andreada |
| Furniture | West | Pasadena | United States | HA-14920 | Helen Andreada |
Other SQL topics to check out:
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