Search code examples
mysqlsqlselectwildcardsql-like

How does % wildcard exactly work in sql when searching

I saw a select statement with something like this in the where part 'LIKE %Blabla%Another%', now I tried it myself and I don't clearly understand how it works. The thing I'm confused about is the % in the middle, I understand how '%Blabla Another%' works, but with the % as a replacement for the space, I got confused.

Solution

  • % means "any sequence of characters, including an empty one". So LIKE '%Blabla%Another%' will match, for example 'XYZBlablaABCAnotherPQR', 'BlablaAnother' and ' Blabla Another '