THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB DEVELOPER SITE
HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON PHP BOOTSTRAP HOW TO W3.CSS JQUERY XML MORE FORUM EXERCISES REFERENCES

SQL Tutorial

SQL HOME SQL Intro SQL Syntax SQL Select SQL Select Distinct SQL Where SQL And, Or, Not SQL Order By SQL Insert Into SQL Null Values SQL Update SQL Delete SQL Select Top SQL Min and Max SQL Count, Avg, Sum SQL Like SQL Wildcards SQL In SQL Between SQL Aliases SQL Joins SQL Inner Join SQL Left Join SQL Right Join SQL Full Join SQL Self Join SQL Union SQL Group By SQL Having SQL Exists SQL Any, All SQL Select Into SQL Insert Into Select SQL Case SQL Null Functions SQL Stored Procedures SQL Comments

SQL Database

SQL Create DB SQL Drop DB SQL Backup DB SQL Create Table SQL Drop Table SQL Alter Table SQL Constraints SQL Not Null SQL Unique SQL Primary Key SQL Foreign Key SQL Check SQL Default SQL Index SQL Auto Increment SQL Dates SQL Views SQL Injection SQL Hosting

SQL References

SQL Keywords
ADD ADD CONSTRAINT ALTER ALTER COLUMN ALTER TABLE ALL AND ANY AS ASC BACKUP DATABASE BETWEEN CASE CHECK COLUMN CONSTRAINT CREATE CREATE DATABASE CREATE INDEX CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW CREATE TABLE CREATE PROCEDURE CREATE UNIQUE INDEX CREATE VIEW DATABASE DEFAULT DELETE DESC DISTINCT DROP DROP COLUMN DROP CONSTRAINT DROP DATABASE DROP DEFAULT DROP INDEX DROP TABLE DROP VIEW EXEC EXISTS FOREIGN KEY FROM FULL OUTER JOIN GROUP BY HAVING IN INDEX INNER JOIN INSERT INTO INSERT INTO SELECT IS NULL IS NOT NULL JOIN LEFT JOIN LIKE LIMIT NOT NOT NULL OR ORDER BY OUTER JOIN PRIMARY KEY PROCEDURE RIGHT JOIN ROWNUM SELECT SELECT DISTINCT SELECT INTO SELECT TOP SET TABLE TOP TRUNCATE TABLE UNION UNION ALL UNIQUE UPDATE VALUES VIEW WHERE
MySQL Functions
String Functions ASCII CHAR_LENGTH CHARACTER_LENGTH CONCAT CONCAT_WS FIELD FIND_IN_SET FORMAT INSERT INSTR LCASE LEFT LENGTH LOCATE LOWER LPAD LTRIM MID POSITION REPEAT REPLACE REVERSE RIGHT RPAD RTRIM SPACE STRCMP SUBSTR SUBSTRING SUBSTRING_INDEX TRIM UCASE UPPER Numeric Functions ABS ACOS ASIN ATAN ATAN2 AVG CEIL CEILING COS COT COUNT DEGREES DIV EXP FLOOR GREATEST LEAST LN LOG LOG10 LOG2 MAX MIN MOD PI POW POWER RADIANS RAND ROUND SIGN SIN SQRT SUM TAN TRUNCATE Date Functions ADDDATE ADDTIME CURDATE CURRENT_DATE CURRENT_TIME CURRENT_TIMESTAMP CURTIME DATE DATEDIFF DATE_ADD DATE_FORMAT DATE_SUB DAY DAYNAME DAYOFMONTH DAYOFWEEK DAYOFYEAR EXTRACT FROM_DAYS HOUR LAST_DAY LOCALTIME LOCALTIMESTAMP MAKEDATE MAKETIME MICROSECOND MINUTE MONTH MONTHNAME NOW PERIOD_ADD PERIOD_DIFF QUARTER SECOND SEC_TO_TIME STR_TO_DATE SUBDATE SUBTIME SYSDATE TIME TIME_FORMAT TIME_TO_SEC TIMEDIFF TIMESTAMP TO_DAYS WEEK WEEKDAY WEEKOFYEAR YEAR YEARWEEK Advanced Functions BIN BINARY CASE CAST COALESCE CONNECTION_ID CONV CONVERT CURRENT_USER DATABASE IF IFNULL ISNULL LAST_INSERT_ID NULLIF SESSION_USER SYSTEM_USER USER VERSION
SQL Server Functions
String Functions ASCII CHAR CHARINDEX CONCAT Concat with + CONCAT_WS DATALENGTH DIFFERENCE FORMAT LEFT LEN LOWER LTRIM NCHAR PATINDEX QUOTENAME REPLACE REPLICATE REVERSE RIGHT RTRIM SOUNDEX SPACE STR STUFF SUBSTRING TRANSLATE TRIM UNICODE UPPER Numeric Functions ABS ACOS ASIN ATAN ATN2 AVG CEILING COUNT COS COT DEGREES EXP FLOOR LOG LOG10 MAX MIN PI POWER RADIANS RAND ROUND SIGN SIN SQRT SQUARE SUM TAN Date Functions CURRENT_TIMESTAMP DATEADD DATEDIFF DATEFROMPARTS DATENAME DATEPART DAY GETDATE GETUTCDATE ISDATE MONTH SYSDATETIME YEAR Advanced Functions CAST COALESCE CONVERT CURRENT_USER IIF ISNULL ISNUMERIC NULLIF SESSION_USER SESSIONPROPERTY SYSTEM_USER USER_NAME
MS Access Functions
String Functions Asc Chr Concat with & CurDir Format InStr InstrRev LCase Left Len LTrim Mid Replace Right RTrim Space Split Str StrComp StrConv StrReverse Trim UCase Numeric Functions Abs Atn Avg Cos Count Exp Fix Format Int Max Min Randomize Rnd Round Sgn Sqr Sum Val Date Functions Date DateAdd DateDiff DatePart DateSerial DateValue Day Format Hour Minute Month MonthName Now Second Time TimeSerial TimeValue Weekday WeekdayName Year Other Functions CurrentUser Environ IsDate IsNull IsNumeric
SQL Operators SQL Data Types SQL Quick Ref

SQL Examples

SQL Examples SQL Quiz SQL Exercises SQL Certificate

SQL Wildcards

❮ Previous Next ❯

SQL Wildcard Characters

A wildcard character is used to substitute one or more characters in a string.

Wildcard characters are used with the SQL LIKE operator. The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

Wildcard Characters in MS Access

Symbol Description Example
* Represents zero or more characters bl* finds bl, black, blue, and blob
? Represents a single character h?t finds hot, hat, and hit
[] Represents any single character within the brackets h[oa]t finds hot and hat, but not hit
! Represents any character not in the brackets h[!oa]t finds hit, but not hot and hat
- Represents a range of characters c[a-b]t finds cat and cbt
# Represents any single numeric character 2#5 finds 205, 215, 225, 235, 245, 255, 265, 275, 285, and 295

Wildcard Characters in SQL Server

Symbol Description Example
% Represents zero or more characters bl% finds bl, black, blue, and blob
_ Represents a single character h_t finds hot, hat, and hit
[] Represents any single character within the brackets h[oa]t finds hot and hat, but not hit
^ Represents any character not in the brackets h[^oa]t finds hit, but not hot and hat
- Represents a range of characters c[a-b]t finds cat and cbt

All the wildcards can also be used in combinations!

Here are some examples showing different LIKE operators with '%' and '_' wildcards:

LIKE Operator Description
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a%' Finds any values that starts with "a"
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%a' Finds any values that ends with "a"
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%or%' Finds any values that have "or" in any position
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '_r%' Finds any values that have "r" in the second position
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a_%_%' Finds any values that starts with "a" and are at least 3 characters in length
WHERE ContactName LIKE 'a%o' Finds any values that starts with "a" and ends with "o"

Demo Database

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:

CustomerID CustomerName ContactName Address City PostalCode Country
1

 Alfreds Futterkiste Maria Anders Obere Str. 57 Berlin 12209 Germany
2 Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados Ana Trujillo Avda. de la Constitución 2222 México D.F. 05021 Mexico
3 Antonio Moreno Taquería Antonio Moreno Mataderos 2312 México D.F. 05023 Mexico
4

 Around the Horn Thomas Hardy 120 Hanover Sq. London WA1 1DP UK
5 Berglunds snabbköp Christina Berglund Berguvsvägen 8 Luleå S-958 22 Sweden

Using the % Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "ber":

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 'ber%';
Try it Yourself »

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City containing the pattern "es": 

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '%es%';
Try it Yourself »

Using the _ Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with any character, followed by "ondon":

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '_ondon';
Try it Yourself »

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "L", followed by any character, followed by "n", followed by any character, followed by "on":

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 'L_n_on';
Try it Yourself »

Using the [charlist] Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "b", "s", or "p":

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[bsp]%';
Try it Yourself »

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with "a", "b", or "c":

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[a-c]%';
Try it Yourself »

Using the [!charlist] Wildcard

The two following SQL statements select all customers with a City NOT starting with "b", "s", or "p":

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[!bsp]%';
Try it Yourself »

Or:

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City NOT LIKE '[bsp]%';
Try it Yourself »

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Select all records where the second letter of the City is an "a".

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '%';

Start the Exercise


❮ Previous Next ❯