starfishdestroyer

hi,

im kind of a newbie when it comes to SQL programming. i dont even know if im in the correct part of the website or what. i just have a question that is complicated for me.

"is it possible to create an sql script that will search for a particular string in a database table (in ms access) and wil return the whole row of the string that is being searched?"

if this is possible, please email me.

many thanks!

DaWei

How is an email going to help other members that may need the same answer? You realize that a "row" normally comprises multiple fields, right? You should be clear about whether or not the target string will always appear in the same field, or whether it might occur in any of the fields. For a decent answer, explain your setup clearly, as well as your goal. In Access, such searches may be done by coded modules or ememplar queries as well as by SQL queries.

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jim mcnamara

Describe the table - ie., give us the names of the columns.
The operator you are probably looking for is LIKE

Infinite Recursion

Need more info, so my answer will be relatively broad:

SELECT * FROM yourtable WHERE yourvalue IN ('list','of','values');
or
SELECT * FROM yourtable WHERE yourvalue LIKE '%somesubstring%';

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Pizentios

IR is correct, i would have done it the second way that he listed.

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mackenga

Having said that, a SELECT with only a LIKE in the WHERE clause and with % at the start and end of the operand to LIKE is going to be slow as hell. To refer back to the original question:

Basically, the answer is Yes. That's the bread and butter of SQL.

Your query will start:


which means 'give me the values of all the columns for each row of the result'. Next up you want:


(but replace tableName with the name of the table). Now you want to say something about which rows. Say you wanted to search a table called Customers for a row where Surname was Smythe:


Well I hope this is helpful.

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The Dark

mackenga, whats with dragging up all these old threads? This one is 10 and a bit months old, the original poster has had time to meet someone and be looking after a newborn baby by now.