Beginning SQL

Chapter 3
When you execute the query, you get the following results:
FilmName
Sense and Insensitivity
Raging Bullocks
Continuing the look at logical operators, the next section takes you through the LIKE operator.
LIKE Operator
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The LIKE operator allows you to use wildcard characters when searching a character field. A wildcard
character is one that doesn’t match a specific character but instead matches any one character or any of
one or more characters. One example of its use would be finding out details of all members in the film
club whose surname begins with J.
The following table details the two available wildcard characters.
Wildcard Description
% Matches one or more characters. Note that MS Access uses the asterisk (*)
wildcard character instead of the percent sign (%) wildcard character.
_ Matches one character. Note that MS Access uses a question mark (?)
instead of the underscore (_) to match any one character.
The SQL to match all names beginning with a J is as follows:
SELECT LastName FROM MemberDetails
WHERE LastName LIKE ‘J%’;
Remember, if you’re using MS Access you need to change the percent sign (%) to an asterisk (*):
SELECT LastName FROM MemberDetails
WHERE LastName LIKE ‘J*’;
The preceding code fragment produces these results:
LastName
Jackson
Jones
Jones
Johnson