what is wildcard in sql

Question

Can anyone explain wildcard in SQL?

Answer 1

In SQL, wildcard character is used with the LIKE operator to substitute one or more characters of a string. LIKE operator is used in WHERE clause to find for a particular pattern in a column.

The following are the wild characters in SQL server

• ‘ % ‘ ­‑  means zero or more characters
• ‘ _ ‘  -  means a single character
• ‘ [ ] ‘ -  means any single character within brackets
• ‘ ^ ’  -  means any character not in the brackets

Here are the few examples how you can use WILDCARD characters:

• WHERE EmployeerName LIKE 'a%'         -  returns any values that start with "a"
• WHERE EmployeeName LIKE '_r%'         -  returns any values that have "r" in the second position
• WHERE EmployeeName LIKE 'a_%_%'   -  returns any values that start with "a" and are at least 3 characters in length

You can check out this SQL tutorial by Intellipaat if you want to learn more about wildcard characters along with examples.