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LIKE / ILIKE

Applies to: ✅ Data 360 SQL ✅ Tableau Hyper API

Pattern matching operator that checks whether a string matches a specified pattern using wildcards. LIKE is case-sensitive, but ILIKE is case-insensitive.

Syntax

<string> LIKE <pattern> [ESCAPE <escape_character>]
<string> NOT LIKE <pattern> [ESCAPE <escape_character>]
<string> ILIKE <pattern> [ESCAPE <escape_character>]
<string> NOT ILIKE <pattern> [ESCAPE <escape_character>]

Arguments

Required

  • <string>: The string to match against.
  • <pattern>: The pattern to match, which can contain wildcard characters.

Optional

  • <escape_character>: The character used to escape wildcard characters. Defaults to backslash (\).

Returns

Returns a boolean value indicating whether the string matches the pattern.

Considerations

  • Wildcards: _ matches any single character. % matches any sequence of zero or more characters.
  • Full string match: LIKE always covers the entire string. Use % at the start and end to match anywhere within a string.
  • Escaping: To match a literal _ or %, precede it with the escape character.
  • No escape: Use ESCAPE '' to disable escape character handling.

Operator Equivalents

Operator Equivalent
~~ LIKE
~~* ILIKE
!~~ NOT LIKE
!~~* NOT ILIKE

Examples

Basic Pattern Matching

Match strings using wildcards.

SELECT 'abc' LIKE 'abc' AS result;

Returns true.

SELECT 'abc' LIKE 'a%' AS result;

Returns true because % matches any sequence of characters.

SELECT 'abc' LIKE '_b_' AS result;

Returns true because _ matches any single character.

Case-Insensitive Matching

Use ILIKE for case-insensitive matching.

SELECT 'Hello World' ILIKE 'hello%' AS result;

Returns true.

Escaping Wildcards

Match literal wildcard characters.

SELECT 'price_100' LIKE 'price\_100' AS result;

Returns true because \_ matches a literal underscore.

Custom Escape Character

Use a custom escape character.

SELECT 'price_100' LIKE 'price!_100' ESCAPE '!' AS result;

Returns true using ! as the escape character.

Matching Anywhere in String

Find a pattern anywhere within a string.

SELECT name FROM products
WHERE name LIKE '%widget%';

Returns all products with "widget" anywhere in the name.

Related Documentation