SQL Server has the LIKE operator to handle wildcard searches. My customer wants to use the "*" (asterisk) character in the user interface of an application as the wildcard character. I'm just wondering if there are any standard characters that I need to worry about (that are used as special characters in SQL Server) besides the "%" (percent) character itself before performing a LIKE wilcard search in case their keyword contains a "%" and needs to find a "%" in the actual string. If so, what are they?
So please assume that [table1].[column1] will never have a "*" (asterisk) in the text string!
Here's what I have so far. Do I need to handle more situations other than the standard "%"
character and the custom "*"
-- custom replacement
select REPLACE('xxx*xxx', '*', '%')
-- standard replacements
select REPLACE('xxx%xxx', '%', '[%]')
select REPLACE('xxx_xxx', '_', '[_]') -- ???
select REPLACE('xxx[xxx', '[', '[[]') -- ???
select REPLACE('xxx]xxx', ']', '[]]') -- ???
Example:
SET @p = REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(@p, ']', '[]]'), '[', '[[]'), '_', '[_]'), '%', '[%]'), '*', '%')
SELECT 'xxxxxxxxx%xxxxxx' LIKE @p
SELECT [table1].[column1] LIKE @p
It looks like you got them all, although I think escaping ']' is unnecessary. Technically you should just need to escape the opening bracket ('[').
DECLARE @Table1 TABLE
(
Column1 VARCHAR(32) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY
);
INSERT @Table1(Column1)
VALUES
('abc%def'),
('abc_def'),
('abc[d]ef'),
('abc def'),
('abcdef');
DECLARE @p VARCHAR(32) = 'abc*]*';
DECLARE @Escaped VARCHAR(64) = REPLACE(@p, '[', '[[]');
SET @Escaped = REPLACE(@Escaped, '_', '[_]');
SET @Escaped = REPLACE(@Escaped, '%', '[%]');
SET @Escaped = REPLACE(@Escaped, '*', '%');
SELECT T.Column1
FROM @Table1 T
WHERE T.Column1 LIKE @Escaped;
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