LIKE condition

In MySQL, LIKE condition is used to perform pattern matching to find the correct result. It is used in SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statement with the combination of WHERE clause.

Syntax:

expression LIKE pattern [ ESCAPE 'escape_character' ]  

Parameters

expression: It specifies a column or field.

pattern: It is a character expression that contains pattern matching.

escape_character: It is optional. It allows you to test for literal instances of a wildcard character such as % or _. If you do not provide the escape_character, MySQL assumes that “\” is the escape_character.

MySQL LIKE Examples

1) Using % (percent) Wildcard:

Consider a table “officers” having the following data.

Execute the following query:

SELECT officer_name  

FROM officers  

WHERE address LIKE 'Luck%';  

Output:

2) Using _ (Underscore) Wildcard:

We are using the same table “officers” in this example too.

Execute the following query:

SELECT officer_name  

FROM officers  

WHERE address LIKE 'Luc_now'; 

Output:

3) Using NOT Operator:

You can also use NOT operator with MySQL LIKE condition. This example shows the use of % wildcard with the NOT Operator.

Consider a table “officers” having the following data.

Execute the following query:

SELECT officer_name  

FROM officers  

WHERE address NOT LIKE 'Luck%'; 

Output: