This document discusses wildcards, the IN operator, and the BETWEEN operator in SQL. It defines wildcard characters like % and _ that can be used with the LIKE operator to search for patterns in database columns. The IN operator allows specifying multiple values in a WHERE clause as an alternative to multiple OR conditions. The BETWEEN operator selects values within a given numeric or date range. The session objectives are to understand these SQL operators and clauses.

1. Database Systems
CS – 2102
Wildcards in SQL
Week /Lab 8
Engr. Tahir Abbasi

2. Quote of the Day!!!
12/21/2022 Database Systems 2

3. Session’s Objectives
⚫ At the end of today’s session, you should have an
understanding of:
⚫ Wildcards
⚫ IN Operator
⚫ BETWEEN Operator
12/21/2022 Database Systems 3

4. WILDCARDS
⚫ A wildcard character is used to substitute one or
more characters in a string.
⚫ Wildcard characters are used with the SQL
LIKE operator.
⚫ The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to
search for a specified pattern in a column.
12/21/2022 Database Systems 4

5. WILDCARDS
Symbol Description Example
% Represents zero or more
characters
bl% finds bl, black, blue, and blob
_ Represents a single character h_t finds hot, hat, and hit
[ ] Represents any single character
within the brackets
h[oa]t finds hot and hat, but not
hit
^
!
Represents any character not in
the brackets
h[^oa]t finds hit, but not hot and
hat
- Represents a range of characters c[a-f]t finds cat and cbt
12/21/2022 Database Systems 5

6. Wildcards: LIKE Operator
LIKE Operator Description
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a%' Finds any values that starts with "a"
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%a' Finds any values that ends with "a"
WHERE CustomerName LIKE
'%or%'
Finds any values that have "or" in any
position
WHERE CustomerName LIKE
'_r%'
Finds any values that have "r" in the
second position
WHERE CustomerName LIKE
'a_%_%'
Finds any values that starts with "a" and
are at least 3 characters in length
WHERE ContactName LIKE 'a%o' Finds any values that starts with "a" and
ends with "o"
12/21/2022 Database Systems 6

7. SQL IN Operator
⚫ The IN operator allows you to specify multiple
values in a WHERE clause.
⚫ The IN operator is a shorthand for multiple OR
conditions.
⚫ SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name IN (value1, value2, ...);
⚫ SELECT *
FROM Customers
WHERE Country IN ('Germany', 'France', 'UK');
12/21/2022 Database Systems 7

8. SQL BETWEEN Operator
⚫ The BETWEEN operator selects values within a
given range. The values can be numbers, text, or
dates.
⚫ The BETWEEN operator is inclusive: begin and
end values are included.
⚫ SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE column_name BETWEEN value1 AND value2;
⚫ SELECT *
FROM Products
WHERE Price BETWEEN 10 AND 20;
12/21/2022 Database Systems 8

9. Next Session
⚫ Aggregate Functions
⚫ GROUP BY Clause
⚫ HAVING Clause
12/21/2022 Database Systems 9

10. Questions?
12/21/2022 Database Systems 10