Question

I am using SQL Server 2005.

Please consider the following query:

DECLARE @SearchTerm NVARCHAR(4)
SELECT @SearchTerm = 'X'

SELECT ProductCode -- NVARCHAR type
FROM Product
WHERE ProductCode LIKE '%' + @SearchTerm + '%'

How may I specify the correct grouping / order by clause to my query to order the results by the following specific criteria?

1. Firstly, order by ProductCode ascending where ProductCode STARTS with @SearchTerm
2. Then order the remaining results by ProductCode ascending.

So for example the results may look like:

ProductCode
-----------
XAA
XMA
XZA
AXA
AXZ
BAX
BMX
BXZ
etc.

Any answers as ever are appreciated.

Answer 1

Thanks everyone for the answers however I have come up with my preferred solution myself based off noting the syntax other answers have used LIKE @SearchTerm + '%', i.e. dropping the first '%' gave me the clue which reminded me of an old Excel trick:

SELECT ProductCode
FROM Product
WHERE ProductCode LIKE '%' + @SearchTerm + '%'
ORDER BY CASE WHEN LEFT(ProductCode, LEN(@SearchTerm)) = @SearchTerm THEN 0 ELSE 1 END ASC, ProductCode ASC