105 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
105 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
[role="xpack"]
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[testenv="basic"]
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[[sql-like-rlike-operators]]
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=== LIKE and RLIKE Operators
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`LIKE` and `RLIKE` operators are commonly used to filter data based on string patterns. They usually act on a field placed on the left-hand side of
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the operator, but can also act on a constant (literal) expression. The right-hand side of the operator represents the pattern.
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Both can be used in the `WHERE` clause of the `SELECT` statement, but `LIKE` can also be used in other places, such as defining an
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<<sql-index-patterns, index pattern>> or across various <<sql-commands, SHOW commands>>.
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This section covers only the `SELECT ... WHERE ...` usage.
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NOTE: One significant difference between `LIKE`/`RLIKE` and the <<sql-functions-search, full-text search predicates>> is that the former
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act on <<sql-multi-field, exact fields>> while the latter also work on <<text, analyzed>> fields. If the field used with `LIKE`/`RLIKE` doesn't
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have an exact not-normalized sub-field (of <<keyword, keyword>> type) {es-sql} will not be able to run the query. If the field is either exact
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or has an exact sub-field, it will use it as is, or it will automatically use the exact sub-field even if it wasn't explicitly specified in the statement.
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[[sql-like-operator]]
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==== `LIKE`
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.Synopsis:
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[source, sql]
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--------------------------------------------------
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expression <1>
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LIKE constant_exp <2>
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--------------------------------------------------
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<1> typically a field, or a constant expression
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<2> pattern
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.Description:
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The SQL `LIKE` operator is used to compare a value to similar values using wildcard operators. There are two wildcards used in conjunction
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with the `LIKE` operator:
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* The percent sign (%)
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* The underscore (_)
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The percent sign represents zero, one or multiple characters. The underscore represents a single number or character. These symbols can be
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used in combinations.
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[source, sql]
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----
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include-tagged::{sql-specs}/docs/docs.csv-spec[simpleLike]
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----
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There is, also, the possibility of using an escape character if one needs to match the wildcard characters themselves. This can be done
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by using the `ESCAPE [escape_character]` statement after the `LIKE ...` operator:
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SELECT name, author FROM library WHERE name LIKE 'Dune/%' ESCAPE '/';
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In the example above `/` is defined as an escape character which needs to be placed before the `%` or `_` characters if one needs to
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match those characters in the pattern specifically. By default, there is no escape character defined.
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IMPORTANT: Even though `LIKE` is a valid option when searching or filtering in {es-sql}, full-text search predicates
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`MATCH` and `QUERY` are <<sql-like-prefer-full-text, faster and much more powerful and are the preferred alternative>>.
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[[sql-rlike-operator]]
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==== `RLIKE`
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.Synopsis:
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[source, sql]
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--------------------------------------------------
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expression <1>
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RLIKE constant_exp <2>
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--------------------------------------------------
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<1> typically a field, or a constant expression
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<2> pattern
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.Description:
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This operator is similar to `LIKE`, but the user is not limited to search for a string based on a fixed pattern with the percent sign (`%`)
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and underscore (`_`); the pattern in this case is a regular expression which allows the construction of more flexible patterns.
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For more details about the regular expressions syntax, https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/util/regex/Pattern.html[Java's Pattern class javadoc]
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is a good starting point.
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[source, sql]
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----
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include-tagged::{sql-specs}/docs/docs.csv-spec[simpleRLike]
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----
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IMPORTANT: Even though `RLIKE` is a valid option when searching or filtering in {es-sql}, full-text search predicates
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`MATCH` and `QUERY` are <<sql-like-prefer-full-text, faster and much more powerful and are the preferred alternative>>.
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[[sql-like-prefer-full-text]]
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==== Prefer full-text search predicates
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When using `LIKE`/`RLIKE`, do consider using <<sql-functions-search, full-text search predicates>> which are faster, much more powerful
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and offer the option of sorting by relevancy (results can be returned based on how well they matched).
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For example:
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[cols="<m,<m"]
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|===
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^s|LIKE/RLIKE ^s|QUERY/MATCH
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|`foo LIKE 'bar'` |`MATCH(foo, 'bar')`
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|`foo LIKE 'bar' AND tar LIKE 'goo'` |`MATCH('foo^2, tar^5', 'bar goo', 'operator=and')`
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|`foo LIKE 'barr'` |`QUERY('foo: bar~')`
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|`foo LIKE 'bar' AND tar LIKE 'goo'` |`QUERY('foo: bar AND tar: goo')`
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|`foo RLIKE 'ba.*'` |`MATCH(foo, 'ba', 'fuzziness=AUTO:1,5')`
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|`foo RLIKE 'b.{1}r'` |`MATCH(foo, 'br', 'fuzziness=1')`
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|===
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