I’m having trouble with a SQL query that needs to match literal underscore characters. When I try to search for usernames that actually end with _d, my current query isn’t working properly.
WHERE UserAccount LIKE '%_d'
The problem is that the underscore acts as a wildcard in SQL LIKE statements, so it matches any single character instead of the actual underscore I want to find. I need help figuring out the correct syntax to make SQL Server treat the underscore as a literal character rather than a pattern matching symbol. What’s the proper way to handle this situation?
Oh nice! I always go with the ESCAPE clause - something like WHERE UserAccount LIKE '%\_d' ESCAPE '\'. Do square brackets work better in some cases? I’m curius if there’s a performance difference between the two!
Both methods work fine, but I’d go with square brackets since most developers find it more intuitive - it matches SQL Server’s standard character class syntax. There’s actually a third option though: use CHARINDEX instead. Something like WHERE CHARINDEX('_d', UserAccount) > 0 AND RIGHT(UserAccount, 2) = '_d' makes your intent way clearer. Performance-wise, square brackets vs ESCAPE doesn’t really matter, but square brackets are just easier to read. Just heads up - if you’ve got other special characters in your search pattern (percent signs, more underscores, etc.), you’ll need to escape those too with whatever method you pick.
yep, exactly! u can use square brackets like this: WHERE UserAccount LIKE '%[_]d'. it tells SQL Server to treat that underscore as a literal char, not a wildcard. give it a shot!