How to do SQL Like % in Linq?

Question

I have a procedure in SQL that I am trying to turn into Linq:

SELECT O.Id, O.Name as Organization
FROM Organizations O
JOIN OrganizationsHierarchy OH ON O.Id=OH.OrganizationsId
where OH.Hierarchy like '%/12/%'

The line I am most concerned with is:

where OH.Hierarchy like '%/12/%'

I have a column that stores the hierarchy like /1/3/12/ for example so I just use %/12/% to search for it.

My question is, what is the Linq or .NET equivalent to using the percent sign?

Answer 1

.Where(oh => oh.Hierarchy.Contains("/12/"))

You can also use .StartsWith() or .EndsWith().

Answer 2

Use this:

from c in dc.Organization
where SqlMethods.Like(c.Hierarchy, "%/12/%")
select *;

Answer 3

I'm assuming you're using Linq-to-SQL* (see note below). If so, use string.Contains, string.StartsWith, and string.EndsWith to generate SQL that use the SQL LIKE operator.

from o in dc.Organization
join oh in dc.OrganizationsHierarchy on o.Id equals oh.OrganizationsId
where oh.Hierarchy.Contains(@"/12/")
select new { o.Id, o.Name }

or

from o in dc.Organization
where o.OrganizationsHierarchy.Hierarchy.Contains(@"/12/")
select new { o.Id, o.Name }

Note: * = if you are using the ADO.Net Entity Framework (EF / L2E) in .net 3.5, be aware that it will not do the same translation as Linq-to-SQL. Although L2S does a proper translation, L2E v1 (3.5) will translate into a t-sql expression that will force a full table scan on the table you're querying unless there is another better discriminator in your where clause or join filters.
Update: This is fixed in EF/L2E v4 (.net 4.0), so it will generate a SQL LIKE just like L2S does.

Answer 4

If you are using VB.NET, then the answer would be "*". Here is what your where clause would look like...

Where OH.Hierarchy Like '*/12/*'

Note: "*" Matches zero or more characters. Here is the msdn article for the Like operator.

Answer 5

Well indexOf works for me too

var result = from c in SampleList
where c.LongName.IndexOf(SearchQuery) >= 0
select c;

Answer 6

.NET core now has EF.Functions.Like

  var isMatch = EF.Functions.Like(stringThatMightMatch, pattern);

Answer 7

Use such code

try
{
    using (DatosDataContext dtc = new DatosDataContext())
    {
        var query = from pe in dtc.Personal_Hgo
                    where SqlMethods.Like(pe.nombre, "%" + txtNombre.Text + "%")
                    select new
                    {
                        pe.numero
                        ,
                        pe.nombre
                    };
        dgvDatos.DataSource = query.ToList();
    }
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    string mensaje = ex.Message;
}

Answer 8

In case you are not matching numeric strings, always good to have common case:

.Where(oh => oh.Hierarchy.ToUpper().Contains(mySearchString.ToUpper()))

Answer 9

I do always this:

from h in OH
where h.Hierarchy.Contains("/12/")
select h

I know I don't use the like statement but it's work fine in the background is this translated into a query with a like statement.

Answer 10

System.Data.Linq.SqlClient.SqlMethods.Like("mystring", "%string")

Answer 11

Try this, this works fine for me

from record in context.Organization where record.Hierarchy.Contains(12) select record;

Answer 12

Contains is used in Linq ,Just like Like is used in SQL .

string _search="/12/";

. . .

.Where(s => s.Hierarchy.Contains(_search))

You can write your SQL script in Linq as Following :

 var result= Organizations.Join(OrganizationsHierarchy.Where(s=>s.Hierarchy.Contains("/12/")),s=>s.Id,s=>s.OrganizationsId,(org,orgH)=>new {org,orgH});

Answer 13

For those how tumble here like me looking for a way to a "SQL Like" method in LINQ, I've something that is working very good.

I'm in a case where I cannot alter the Database in any way to change the column collation. So I've to find a way in my LINQ to do it.

I'm using the helper method SqlFunctions.PatIndex witch act similarly to the real SQL LIKE operator.

First I need enumerate all possible diacritics (a word that I just learned) in the search value to get something like:

déjà     => d[éèêëeÉÈÊËE]j[aàâäAÀÂÄ]
montreal => montr[éèêëeÉÈÊËE][aàâäAÀÂÄ]l
montréal => montr[éèêëeÉÈÊËE][aàâäAÀÂÄ]l

and then in LINQ for exemple:

var city = "montr[éèêëeÉÈÊËE][aàâäAÀÂÄ]l";
var data = (from loc in _context.Locations
                     where SqlFunctions.PatIndex(city, loc.City) > 0
                     select loc.City).ToList();

So for my needs I've written a Helper/Extension method

   public static class SqlServerHelper
    {

        private static readonly List<KeyValuePair<string, string>> Diacritics = new List<KeyValuePair<string, string>>()
        {
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("A", "aàâäAÀÂÄ"),
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("E", "éèêëeÉÈÊËE"),
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("U", "uûüùUÛÜÙ"),
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("C", "cçCÇ"),
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("I", "iîïIÎÏ"),
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("O", "ôöÔÖ"),
            new KeyValuePair<string, string>("Y", "YŸÝýyÿ")
        };

        public static string EnumarateDiacritics(this string stringToDiatritics)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(stringToDiatritics.Trim()))
                return stringToDiatritics;

            var diacriticChecked = string.Empty;

            foreach (var c in stringToDiatritics.ToCharArray())
            {
                var diac = Diacritics.FirstOrDefault(o => o.Value.ToCharArray().Contains(c));
                if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(diac.Key))
                    continue;

                //Prevent from doing same letter/Diacritic more than one time
                if (diacriticChecked.Contains(diac.Key))
                    continue;

                diacriticChecked += diac.Key;

                stringToDiatritics = stringToDiatritics.Replace(c.ToString(), "[" + diac.Value + "]");
            }

            stringToDiatritics = "%" + stringToDiatritics + "%";
            return stringToDiatritics;
        }
    }

If any of you have suggestion to enhance this method, I'll be please to hear you.

Answer 14

Way late, but I threw this together to be able to do String comparisons using SQL Like style wildcards:

public static class StringLikeExtensions
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Tests a string to be Like another string containing SQL Like style wildcards
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">string to be searched</param>
    /// <param name="searchString">the search string containing wildcards</param>
    /// <returns>value.Like(searchString)</returns>
    /// <example>value.Like("a")</example>
    /// <example>value.Like("a%")</example>
    /// <example>value.Like("%b")</example>
    /// <example>value.Like("a%b")</example>
    /// <example>value.Like("a%b%c")</example>
    /// <remarks>base author -- Ruard van Elburg from StackOverflow, modifications by dvn</remarks>
    /// <remarks>converted to a String extension by sja</remarks>
    /// <seealso cref="https://stackguides.com/questions/1040380/wildcard-search-for-linq"/>
    public static bool Like(this String value, string searchString)
    {
        bool result = false;

        var likeParts = searchString.Split(new char[] { '%' });

        for (int i = 0; i < likeParts.Length; i++)
        {
            if (likeParts[i] == String.Empty)
            {
                continue;   // "a%"
            }

            if (i == 0)
            {
                if (likeParts.Length == 1) // "a"
                {
                    result = value.Equals(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                }
                else // "a%" or "a%b"
                {
                    result = value.StartsWith(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                }
            }
            else if (i == likeParts.Length - 1) // "a%b" or "%b"
            {
                result &= value.EndsWith(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
            }
            else // "a%b%c"
            {
                int current = value.IndexOf(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                int previous = value.IndexOf(likeParts[i - 1], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                result &= previous < current;
            }
        }

        return result;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Tests a string containing SQL Like style wildcards to be ReverseLike another string 
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">search string containing wildcards</param>
    /// <param name="compareString">string to be compared</param>
    /// <returns>value.ReverseLike(compareString)</returns>
    /// <example>value.ReverseLike("a")</example>
    /// <example>value.ReverseLike("abc")</example>
    /// <example>value.ReverseLike("ab")</example>
    /// <example>value.ReverseLike("axb")</example>
    /// <example>value.ReverseLike("axbyc")</example>
    /// <remarks>reversed logic of Like String extension</remarks>
    public static bool ReverseLike(this String value, string compareString)
    {
        bool result = false;

        var likeParts = value.Split(new char[] {'%'});

        for (int i = 0; i < likeParts.Length; i++)
        {
            if (likeParts[i] == String.Empty)
            {
                continue;   // "a%"
            }

            if (i == 0)
            {
                if (likeParts.Length == 1) // "a"
                {
                    result = compareString.Equals(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                }
                else // "a%" or "a%b"
                {
                    result = compareString.StartsWith(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                }
            }
            else if (i == likeParts.Length - 1) // "a%b" or "%b"
            {
                result &= compareString.EndsWith(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
            }
            else // "a%b%c"
            {
                int current = compareString.IndexOf(likeParts[i], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                int previous = compareString.IndexOf(likeParts[i - 1], StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
                result &= previous < current;
            }
        }

        return result;
    }
}