Question

Consider the following messages:

id  message
------------------------------------------------------------
1   $AA is the only way to go!
2   This is my $AA. There are many like it.
3   But this is my $AA.
4   My$AA is my swag.
5   For lack of imagination a message with $AA in the middle.
6   Another message with at the end: $AA

I want to filter all messages with $AA:

• $AA could be at the beginning of the message (so: only a space after it)
• $AA could be at the end of a message (so: only a space before it)
• $AA could be anywhere else in the message (surrounded by spaces)
• $AA could have punctuation before and/or after it: $AA. $AA, or ($AA)
• But not any other charachters (letters and numbers)

I would normally use a query such as

SELECT * FROM messages WHERE message LIKE '%$AA%'

But then message 4 is also returned. How can I made the query not return message 4?

Answer 1

It’s too easy just add a space in your query like this-

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE messages LIKE '% $AA%'

This will not cover first row for that

use this:

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE messages LIKE '% $AA%' or messages like '$AA%'