MySQL query String contains

Question

I've been trying to figure out how I can make a query with MySQL that checks if the value (string $haystack ) in a certain column contains certain data (string $needle), like this:

mysql_query("
SELECT *
FROM `table`
WHERE `column`.contains('{$needle}')
");

In PHP, the function is called substr($haystack, $needle), so maybe:

WHERE substr(`column`, '{$needle}')=1

Answer 1

Quite simple actually:

mysql_query("
SELECT *
FROM `table`
WHERE `column` LIKE '%{$needle}%'
");

The % is a wildcard for any character. Do note that this can get slow on very large datasets so if your database grows you'll need to use fulltext indices.

Answer 2

Use:

SELECT *
  FROM `table`
 WHERE INSTR(`column`, '{$needle}') > 0

Reference:

• INSTR

Answer 3

WHERE `column` LIKE '%$needle%'

Answer 4

Mine is using LOCATE in mysql:

LOCATE(substr,str), LOCATE(substr,str,pos)

This function is multi-byte safe, and is case-sensitive only if at least one argument is a binary string.

In your case:

mysql_query("
SELECT * FROM `table`
WHERE LOCATE('{$needle}','column') > 0
");

Answer 5

In addition to the answer from @WoLpH.

When using the LIKE keyword you also have the ability to limit which direction the string matches. For example:

If you were looking for a string that starts with your $needle:

... WHERE column LIKE '{$needle}%'

If you were looking for a string that ends with the $needle:

... WHERE column LIKE '%{$needle}'

Answer 6

be aware that this is dangerous:

WHERE `column` LIKE '%{$needle}%'

do first:

$needle = mysql_real_escape_string($needle);

so it will prevent possible attacks.

Answer 7

You probably are looking for find_in_set function:

Where find_in_set($needle,'column') > 0

This function acts like in_array function in PHP