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sqlstringcontainssql-server-2012

How can I tell if a VARCHAR variable contains a substring?

I thought it was CONTAINS, but that's not working for me.

I'm looking to do this:

IF CONTAINS(@stringVar, 'thisstring')
   ...

I have to run one select or another, depending on whether that variable contains a string and I can't figure out how to get it to work. All the examples I'm seeing are using columns in the contains.

Solution

  • The standard SQL way is to use like:

    where @stringVar like '%thisstring%'

    That is in a query statement. You can also do this in TSQL:

    if @stringVar like '%thisstring%'