how to use a like with a join in sql?

Question

I have 2 tables, say table A and table B and I want to perform a join, but the matching condition has to be where a column from A \'is like\' a column from B meaning that an

Answer 1

Using conditional criteria in a join is definitely different than the Where clause. The cardinality between the tables can create differences between Joins and Where clauses.

For example, using a Like condition in an Outer Join will keep all records in the first table listed in the join. Using the same condition in the Where clause will implicitly change the join to an Inner join. The record has to generally be present in both tables to accomplish the conditional comparison in the Where clause.

I generally use the style given in one of the prior answers.

tbl_A as ta
    LEFT OUTER JOIN tbl_B AS tb
            ON ta.[Desc] LIKE '%' + tb.[Desc] + '%'

This way I can control the join type.