Use User Variables in MySQL LIKE Clause

Using the CONCAT() function, we can work with user variables in LIKE clause. The syntax is as follows.

set @anyVariableName='anyValue';
select yourColumnName1,yourColumnName2,yourColumnName3,...N from yourTableName
whereyourColumnName like CONCAT('%', @anyVariableName, '%');

To understand the above syntax, let us first create a table. The query to create a table is as follows.

mysql> create table UserVariableInLike
-> (
-> id int,
-> Name varchar(100),
-> Age int
-> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.83 sec)

Insert records in the table using insert command. The query is as follows.

mysql> insert into UserVariableInLike values(101,'John',23);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.23 sec)

mysql> insert into UserVariableInLike values(102,'John Smith',24);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.20 sec)

mysql> insert into UserVariableInLike values(103,'Carol Smith',23);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.15 sec)

mysql> insert into UserVariableInLike values(104,'Johnson',25);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.20 sec)

mysql> insert into UserVariableInLike values(105,'Adam Smith',26);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.21 sec)

Display all records from the table using select statement. The query is as follows

mysql> select *from UserVariableInLike;

The following is the output.

+------+-------------+------+
| id   | Name        | Age  |
+------+-------------+------+
| 101  | John        | 23   |
| 102  | John Smith  | 24   |
| 103  | Carol Smith | 23   |
| 104  | Johnson     | 25   |
| 105  | Adam Smith  | 26   |
+------+-------------+------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Here is the query which uses the user variable in the LIKE clause. The query is as follows −

mysql> set @searchName='John';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> select id,Name,Age from UserVariableInLike where Name like CONCAT('%',
@searchName, '%');

The following is the output.

+------+------------+------+
| id   | Name       | Age  |
+------+------------+------+
| 101  | John       | 23   |
| 102  | JohnSmith  | 24   |
| 104  | Johnson    | 25   |
+------+------------+------+
3 rows in set (0.05 sec)