← ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

Pattern matching with LIKE, % and _

LIKE matches text by pattern in a WHERE clause. % stands for any run of characters and _ for exactly one, so 'S%' finds values starting with S and '%son' finds values ending in son.

Part of: ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10 — Entities, Relationships and Queries — Module 31, QCE Digital Solutions Unit 2 — Data and Programming Techniques — Module 64

Understanding Pattern matching with LIKE, % and _ in ACARA Digital Technologies Years 9–10

What it does: The % at the start allows anything before 'son', so only values finishing with 'son' match. Each _ stands for exactly one character, so 'L__' matches an L followed by two more characters, such as Leo. The S comes first, then % allows any run of characters after it. '%S' would find names that END in S. = looks for the exact text L%, so it finds nothing. LIKE is needed for % to work as a wildcard. A % on both sides of 'at' lets any characters come before and after it, so 'at' can appear anywhere in the value.

Common mistakes: SQL LIKE uses % for any run of characters, not *. With 'S*' the * is just a star character, so no names match. It should be 'S%'. 'son%' finds names that START with son. To find names that END in son, put the % first: '%son'.

Class: _____________________ · Name: _____________________ · Date: _________

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 459–475) and word search (Modules 459–534).

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Learning

Duo

Which WHERE clause finds every student whose last name starts with S?

WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%'WHERE lastName LIKE '%S'

Matches

WHERE lastName LIKE 'S*'

↓

* is not a wildcard in SQL LIKE. Use % to match any run of characters, so the pattern should be 'S%'.

Applying

Meanings

Term

WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%'

Meaning

LIKE matches text by pattern in a WHERE clause. % stands for any run of characters and _ for exactly one, so 'S%' finds values starting with S and '%son' finds values ending in son.

Practice

SELECT firstName, lastName

Testing

Gaps

WHERE lastName 'S%';

Check Answer

Spots

2FROM students

3WHERE lastName LIKE 'S*';

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Quick Questions

1. Which WHERE clause finds every student whose last name starts with S?

A. WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%' ✓

B. WHERE lastName LIKE '%S'

The S comes first, then % allows any run of characters after it. '%S' would find names that END in S.

2. Which pattern matches last names that end in son, like Jackson or Wilson?

A. LIKE '%son' ✓

B. LIKE 'son%'

% goes before son because anything can come before it. 'son%' finds values that start with son.

3. Which pattern finds product names that contain the letters at anywhere inside?

A. LIKE '%at'

B. LIKE '%at%' ✓

A % on both sides means any characters can come before and after at. '%at' only matches values that end in at.

4. In a LIKE pattern, what does the underscore _ stand for?

A. Exactly one character ✓

B. Any run of characters, even none

_ matches exactly one character. It is % that matches any run of characters, including none.

5. Which pattern matches Ava and Eva but not Elva?

A. LIKE '%va'

B. LIKE '_va' ✓

_ allows exactly one character before va. '%va' would also match Elva because % allows any number of characters.

Match the Pairs

WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%' → Finds students whose last name starts with S, followed by any number of other characters

WHERE name LIKE '%at%' → Finds names that contain the letters 'at' anywhere, such as Water Bottle or Calculator

Find last names that end in son by putting % before the ending → WHERE lastName LIKE '%son'

The _ wildcard matches exactly one character, so this finds three-letter first names starting with L → WHERE firstName LIKE 'L__'

WHERE lastName LIKE 'S*' → * is not a wildcard in SQL LIKE. Use % to match any run of characters, so the pattern should be 'S%'.

WHERE lastName = 'S%' → The = operator compares exact text, so the % is not a wildcard. Use LIKE to match a pattern.

Key Term

WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%'

LIKE matches text by pattern in a WHERE clause. % stands for any run of characters and _ for exactly one, so 'S%' finds values starting with S and '%son' finds values ending in son.

Fill in the Blanks

1. SELECT * FROM students WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%';

Hint: Type the keyword that compares a text field to a pattern.

2. SELECT firstName, lastName FROM students WHERE lastName LIKE 'S%';

Hint: Type the wildcard symbol that stands for any run of characters, so the value can end with anything after the S.

3. SELECT * FROM students WHERE lastName LIKE '%son';

Hint: Type the wildcard symbol that allows any characters before the fixed ending.

4. SELECT name FROM products WHERE name LIKE '%at%';

Hint: Type the wildcard symbol that lets anything follow the letters, so the pattern means contains.

5. SELECT * FROM students WHERE firstName LIKE 'Li_m';

Hint: Type the wildcard symbol that stands for exactly one character.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A SELECT firstName, lastName

B FROM students

C WHERE lastName LIKE 'S*';

Line C — SQL LIKE uses % for any run of characters, not *. With 'S*' the * is just a star character, so no names match. It should be 'S%'.

Question 2

A SELECT firstName, lastName

B FROM students

C WHERE yearLevel = 9

D AND lastName LIKE 'son%';

Line D — 'son%' finds names that START with son. To find names that END in son, put the % first: '%son'.

Question 3

A SELECT name FROM products

B WHERE name LIKE %at%

C ORDER BY name;

Line B — The LIKE pattern is text, so it must be wrapped in quotes. It should be WHERE name LIKE '%at%'.

Question 4

A SELECT firstName, lastName,

B FROM students

C WHERE firstName LIKE 'Z_e';

Line A — There is a comma after the last field in the SELECT list, but no more fields follow. Remove it: SELECT firstName, lastName.

Question 5

A SELECT firstName

B FROM students

C WHERE yearLevel = 8

D AND firstName = 'L___';

Line D — The = operator compares exact text, so the underscores are treated as real characters. Use LIKE so each _ stands for exactly one character.

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