SQL like command failing in Oracle

Question

I have the following code, which i want to compare two strings (varchars).

If item.item_name contains the string equipment_type anywhere, i want it to return the record.

But i recieved a error, stating INVALID NUMBER on the upper('%' + equipment_type + '%') command.

select * from equipment_type
join item on upper(item.item_name) like upper('%' + equipment_type + '%') 

I realize the issue is adding the wildcard strings to the variable equipment_type. Does anyone know how to get this wildcard comparison to work?

Answer 1

Note: I originally answered this in the comments. Since then, it was suggested that I post the solution here as a "real" answer. Here goes...

Oracle uses + for numeric and date math only. For string concatenation, use double bars (||):

select * from equipment_type
join item on upper(item.item_name) like upper('%' || equipment_type || '%')

                       The only changes are here  ^^   ... and here ^^