Question

i need query which starts with first name here is my query:

if(@firstName <> '')

BEGIN 
 set @queryString = @queryString+ ' and UPPER(col_FirstName) like ''%' +@firstName +'%'''
END
if(@lastName <> '')
BEGIN 

set @queryString = @queryString + ' and UPPER(col_LastName) like ''%' +@lastName +'%'''

but it is searching first name in middle also i want to search only with initials letters
thanks

Answer 1

Both masks in your constructed condition specify that the search be performed anywhere in the column value:

... + ' and UPPER(col_FirstName) like ''%' + @firstName + '%'''
...
... + ' and UPPER(col_LastName) like ''%' + @lastName + '%'''

The percent sign in the mask stands for “any number of any characters”. Placed before the search term, therefore, it would match a value where the search term (@firstName) is preceded by any number of characters. To specify that the col_FirstName value should start with the @firstName value (and possibly have an arbitrary number of characters afterwards), just remove the leading percent, i.e. like this:

... + ' and UPPER(col_FirstName) like ''' + @firstName + '%'''