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SQL Tutorial - LIKE OPERATOR


The 'LIKE' operator is used to get a set of records similar to the condition given in a query. It is used to retrieve a single/multiple record(s) from a table based on the condition you give.

Here the 'LIKE' operator is executed on the 'Employees' table.

The LIKE OPERATOR


The 'LIKE' operator helps you retrieve data from a table following a specified pattern in a column that you specify in the WHERE clause. It is a wild card character.It uses the % sign to follow the pattern.

SQL LIKE Operator Syntax


Select column-3,column-1,column-2,... column-n
from table
where column-3 like 's%'

The LIKE Operator Example


The 'Employees' tables contains their respective data as shown below.

EmployeeID EmployeeName DateOfBirth DesignationID DeptID City Salary
1 Richard Hughes 4/23/1945 12:00:00 AM 1 1 New Orleans 950.00
2 Taryn Sinclair 3/22/1980 12:00:00 AM 2 2 San Francisco 800.00
3 Ted Horowitz 3/31/1960 12:00:00 AM 3 4 New York 700.00
4 Jonathan Douglas 7/7/1971 12:00:00 AM 3 4 Salt Lake City 600.00
5 Miranda Leigh 7/19/1983 12:00:00 AM 7 3 New York 500.00
6 Jana Rae 9/23/1976 12:00:00 AM 8 2 Houston 400.00
7 Lita Rosanna 9/14/1982 12:00:00 AM 4 6 Long Island 650.00
8 Colin Flooks 12/29/1988 12:00:00 AM 4 2 Salt Lake City 600.00
9 Anthony Frank 2/22/1988 12:00:00 AM 9 3 San Francisco 750.00
10 Stephanie Lynn 7/30/1979 12:00:00 AM 8 2 Salt Lake City 450.00
11 Jack Martin 8/25/1985 12:00:00 AM NULL NULL Austin 500.00

Select EmployeeID, EmployeeName, DateOfBirth, city, salary
from Employees
where city like 's%'

The 'LIKE' operator retrieves all the neccessary records from the 'Employees' table for cities beginning with the letter 's' as shown below.

EmployeeID EmployeeName DateOfBirth city Salary
2 Taryn Sinclair 3/22/1980 12:00:00 AM San Francisco 800.00
4 Jonathan Douglas 7/7/1971 12:00:00 AM Salt Lake City 600.00
8 Colin Flooks 12/29/1988 12:00:00 AM Salt Lake City 600.00
9 Anthony Frank 2/22/1988 12:00:00 AM San Francisco 750.00
10 Stephanie Lynn 7/30/1979 12:00:00 AM Salt Lake City 450.00


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