Question

SQL contains/exists matching data, something as LIKE operator

Asked by: martyje

I am trying to figure out a way in SQL to match a comma separated field with another value.
For example.

select * from tbl_test where fld_search like '%Canton, Ohio, Biology , Chemistry%

In the database I have the word "Biology"
Now, the statement above doesn't work at all.
Any way to compare two fields ?

Thanks much.

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Asked On
2009-03-31 at 08:02:41ID24281376
Tags

sql

Topics

MySQL Server

,

PHP and Databases

,

MS SQL Server

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Answers

 

by: rrjegan17Posted on 2009-03-31 at 08:04:48ID: 24029663

You should use IN operator for this

select * from tbl_test where fld_search IN ('Canton', 'Ohio', 'Biology' , 'Chemistry')

Hope this helps

 

by: matthewspatrickPosted on 2009-03-31 at 08:06:53ID: 24029691

The easiest thing to do would be to load up a temp table, and then join to it:


CREATE TABLE #tmp (SearchTerm varchar(1000))
INSERT INTO #tmp (SearchTerm) VALUES ('Canton')
INSERT INTO #tmp (SearchTerm) VALUES ('Ohio')
INSERT INTO #tmp (SearchTerm) VALUES ('Biology')
INSERT INTO #tmp (SearchTerm) VALUES ('Chemistry')

SELECT *
FROM tbl_test t1 INNER JOIN
      #tmp t2 ON t1.fld_search LIKE '%' + t2.SearchTerm + '%'

DROP TABLE #tmp




That can be put into an sproc, to make it easier to run from PHP...

 

by: MNelson831Posted on 2009-03-31 at 08:06:58ID: 24029692

The % is a wild card so your query is looking for any data string that has the exact phrase

"Canton, Ohio, Biology , Chemistry"

In it.  To search for just the word "biology" you need to say;

like('%biology%')

You can also search for things like this:

Like('%biology%ohio%chemistry')

which will return anything that has all 3 words, in that order.

Another option for searching for partial strings is this:

where charindex('Biology', MyTextField) > 0

 

by: catherinelouisePosted on 2009-03-31 at 08:09:52ID: 24029735

If it is your database field that is comma separated and contains multiple values, you may be looking for something like:

SELECT * FROM tbl_test
WHERE fld_search LIKE '%Canton%'
OR fld_search LIKE '%Ohio%'
OR fld_search LIKE '%Biology%'
OR fld_search LIKE '%Chemistry%'

 

by: martyjePosted on 2009-03-31 at 08:24:25ID: 24029885

Thanks much for the quick responds.
IN the statement:
select * from tbl_test where fld_search like '%Canton, Ohio, Biology , Chemistry%

"Canton, Ohio, Biology , Chemistry" data is coming from another table. It's one field. have data separated with commas.



Any thoughts?
Thanks ya all.

 

by: catherinelouisePosted on 2009-03-31 at 08:25:55ID: 24029909

I think the OR statement I put above should work - did you try it?

 

by: ScottPletcherPosted on 2009-03-31 at 09:42:38ID: 24030824

You can do this as a "quick and dirty" way to make it work, although it does give poor performance vs other methods.

select *
from tbl_test
where CHARINDEX(',' + RTRIM(fld_search) + ','  ,  ',' + 'Canton, Ohio, Biology, Chemistry' + ',') > 0

 

by: martyjePosted on 2009-03-31 at 10:15:01ID: 31564864

I changed , to ', ' in my data and used ur logic above and am back in business. thanks.

 

by: NerdsOfTechPosted on 2009-03-31 at 10:17:06ID: 24031206

1.) You should "READ" the "COMMA SEPERATED VALUES" in to an array via PHP implode
2.) Loop throught the array and make an SQL with individual LIKE = '%value%' lines
3.) Execute SQL statement
4.) Check data
5.) Output results

I'll Post the code next
=NerdsOfTTech

 

by: NerdsOfTechPosted on 2009-03-31 at 10:21:16ID: 24031260

Nevermind your answer was found. Solution canceled.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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