Question

I have the following SQL query:

SELECT Phrases.*
FROM Phrases
WHERE (((Phrases.phrase) Like "*ing aids*") 
  AND ((Phrases.phrase) Not Like "*getting*") 
  AND ((Phrases.phrase) Not Like "*contracting*")) 
  AND ((Phrases.phrase) Not Like "*preventing*"); //(etc.)

Now, if I were using RegEx, I might bunch all the Nots into one big (getting|contracting|preventing), but I’m not sure how to do this in SQL.

Is there a way to render this query more legibly/elegantly?

Answer 1

Just by removing redundant stuff and using a consistent naming convention your SQL looks way cooler:

SELECT *
FROM phrases
WHERE phrase     LIKE '%ing aids%'
  AND phrase NOT LIKE '%getting%'
  AND phrase NOT LIKE '%contracting%' 
  AND phrase NOT LIKE '%preventing%'

You talk about regular expressions. Some DBMS do have it: MySQL, Oracle… However, the choice of either syntax should take into account the execution plan of the query: “how quick it is” rather than “how nice it looks”.