The LIKE operator determines whether or not a character string matches a specified pattern. The specified pattern can contain exactly the characters to match, or it can contain meta characters. The following table lists the meta characters.
| Character | Description |
| [ ] | Any one character within the specified range ([a=f]) or set ([abcdef]). |
| ^ | Any one character not within the range ([^a=f]) or set ([^abcdef].) |
| % | Any string of 0 (zero) or more characters. The following example finds all instances where "Win" is found anywhere in the class name: SELECT * FROM meta_class WHERE __Class LIKE "%Win%" |
| _ (underscore) | Any one character. Any literal underscore used in the query string must be escaped by placing it inside [] (square brackets). |
Because the underscore is a meta character, if the query target has an underscore, the "[]" escape characters must surround it. For example, you can query for all the classes that have a double underscore in the name.
To locate all classes with a double underscore in the name, you must escape both underscores with [] (square brackets), for example:
SELECT * FROM meta_class WHERE __CLASS LIKE "%[_][_]%.
Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0: The LIKE operator is not available.
See Also
WQL Operators
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Build date: 6/19/2008