CODEWITHSUNDEEP
mysqlwildcardsql-like
RicardO
RicardO

Reputation: 1229

Match '%' sign when searching in MySQL database

I would like to match this 'wildcard %' in MySQL.
I tried using escape \% and it is not working.

Upvotes: 6

Views: 1599

Answers (5)

Manisha Sharma
Manisha Sharma

Reputation: 86

In latest version you can also try 

select * from tbl1 where TxtExpr REGEXP '^%';

regards

Upvotes: 0

codaddict
codaddict

Reputation: 454960

The default escape character is \. So just prefix % with a \ as: \%:

The manual clearly says:

To test for literal instances of a wild-card character, precede it by the escape character. If you do not specify the ESCAPE character, “\” is assumed.

Search for % in Stack%Overflow:

mysql> select 'Stack%Overflow' like '%\%%';
+------------------------------+
| 'Stack%Overflow' like '%\%%' |
+------------------------------+
|                            1 |  <----- Found
+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Search for % in StackOverflow:

mysql> select 'StackOverflow' like '%\%%';
+-----------------------------+
| 'StackOverflow' like '%\%%' |
+-----------------------------+
|                           0 |   <----- Not Found
+-----------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

EDIT:

If you are calling this query from PHP, you'll have to use \\. This is because even PHP uses \ as the escape character. So make MySQL get a \ you need to have \\ in PHP.

Upvotes: 5

Andreas Wong
Andreas Wong

Reputation: 60516

You need to escape the \ in PHP string as well, otherwise PHP would think that you are actually escaping the %, thus sending literal % to the sql query, so I think this should work:

mysql_query("select * from bla where bli like '\\%somewords\\%'");

Upvotes: 0

Naveed
Naveed

Reputation: 42093

Here is an example:

$sql = 'SELECT * FROM tableName WHERE fieldName LIKE "wildcard\%"';

Upvotes: 0

RicardO
RicardO

Reputation: 1229

ok i need to use doble (\\) to match the % in the database

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions