I think it is time for you to learn about regular expressions; page 520 ff of Dubois. (sql, mysql, database - to get past the filter) At 01:14 AM 7/26/01 +0100, you wrote: >Hi all, > >I have a problem, I have some VARCHAR data in a column called Sequence >looking like this:- > >5;6 >12;6 >120;6 >5;6;1 >12;6;12 >120;6;105 > >So there could be anything from 2 to n numbers seperated by ; >Each number could be 1 to 3 digits long (eg 5 12 or 121). > >I have tried various searches like the following but none of them seem >fool proof, i.e. they miss data:- > ># This is for the maximum of 3 sequences searching by the 1st icon >SELECT Sequence, Message, id FROM $sqlTable WHERE Sequence LIKE >'$filterValue;%_%_' ORDER BY Message"; > ># This is for the maximum of 3 sequences searching by the 2nd icon >SELECT Sequence, Message, id FROM $sqlTable WHERE Sequence LIKE >'_;$filterValue' OR Sequence LIKE '__;$filterValue' OR Sequence LIKE >'%;$filterValue;%' ORDER BY Message"; > ># This is for the maximum of 3 sequences searching by the 3rd icon >SELECT Sequence, Message, id FROM $sqlTable WHERE Sequence LIKE >'%;%;$filterValue' ORDER BY Message"; > >'Sequence' is where the numbers to search on are stored. >$sqlTable is a variable containing the name of the table. >$filterValue is a variable containing the search number. > >So what rules can I create to work for all examples, though the above >examples are for only 3 sequences of ; seperated numbers, there could be >upto 6 (though I would prefer a rule to cope with n amount). > >I am using perl so the OR LIKE part could be created PRE SELECT and then >added onto the SELECT statement. > >This one is hurting my head.:-) > >M. ---------- tom marlin [EMAIL PROTECTED] fax / voice mail: 714 507 3802 ext 4881 My mind wanders a lot; sometimes it leaves completely.
