user2415940
user2415940

Reputation: 69

MS SQL Where Like Clause Not Returning Data

I'm trying to run this query:

SELECT 
      USER_KEY, CHAR_KEY, CONVERT(VARCHAR,substring(char_data, 9, 16)) as CHAR_NAME
FROM  CHAR_DATA0
WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR,substring(char_data, 9, 16)) LIKE '%BrightSide08'

Which returns me nothing. (I don't understand why)

But changing the query to

SELECT 
      USER_KEY, CHAR_KEY, CONVERT(VARCHAR,substring(char_data, 9, 16)) as CHAR_NAME
FROM  CHAR_DATA0
WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR,substring(char_data, 9, 16)) LIKE '%BrightSide08%'

Note that the only change is ...LIKE '%BrightSide08%'

This query now returns 1 row with the data:
21045 300434 BrightSide08

examples:

(I only need the wild card to be at the beginning because)

I want the following:  
    0BrightSide08
    1BrightSide08

But not:  
    0BrightSide082  
    1BrightSide083

This is char_data

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

Upvotes: 0

Views: 198

Answers (2)

Aaron Bertrand
Aaron Bertrand

Reputation: 280644

Actually, I spoke too soon in my comment. Defining an explicit length for the portion of the substring you're going after does prevent the volatility of varchar without length from interfering with your query:

DECLARE @x TABLE(y VARBINARY(MAX));

INSERT @x VALUES(
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
);

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR, SUBSTRING(y, 9, 16)) FROM @x
  WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR, SUBSTRING(y, 9, 16)) LIKE '%BrightSide08';

-- 0 rows

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR, SUBSTRING(y, 9, 16)) FROM @x
  WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR(12), SUBSTRING(y, 9, 16)) LIKE '%BrightSide08';

-- 1 row

Now, whether you should be using 12 or something else depends on what all of the possible values might be and where they may be embedded in this specific slot in your varbinary value. If you can give some more specific examples we can help further, but in the meantime, it pays to be specific rather than wishy-washy when declaring varchar.

Upvotes: 1

Gordon Linoff
Gordon Linoff

Reputation: 1271231

The most likely reason is that there is some unseen character after the 08. One way this could occur is if the field is defined as a char; it would then be padded with spaces.

One way to see if there are any such values is to append characters to delimit the value:

select '|'+char_data+'|'
. . .

You have another problem in your query. You are using varchar without a length. Bad, bad, bad. In fact, the convert doesn't seem to be needed at all. You can just do:

substring(char_data, 9, 16) LIKE '%BrightSide08'

But this is equivalent to:

left(char_data, 25) LIKE '%BrightSide08'

Or, because you are looking for values at the end of the field:

right(char_data, 12) = 'BrightSide08'

Upvotes: 0

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