How to search a database by using the LIKE parameter in an SQL statement for ASP in FrontPage

This article describes how to search a database using the LIKE parameter in a Structured Query Language (SQL) statement in the Database Results Wizard of Microsoft FrontPage.

This article assumes that you have a basic knowledge of how to query a database using Active Server Pages (ASP) technologies in FrontPage.

When used in a search, the LIKE clause in SQL can be used to generate a result set based on a minimum amount of information typed into the form field of a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) form. For example, if you type mic% in the form field, the results may include Microsoft, microphone, microwave, and so forth.

To use the Database Results Wizard to specify what you want to compare, follow thse steps:

1. Open a Web on an Internet Information Services (IIS) Web server and create a new blank page.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Database, and then click Results.
3. In Step 1, choose your Data Source, and then click Next. (For example, click the Northwind sample connection.)
4. In Step 2, click to select Record Source, select the table from which you want to retrieve data, and then click Next. For this example, select the "Employees" table.
5. In Step 3, edit the list of fields that you want to be included in your query.
6. Click More Options.
7. Click Criteria.
8. Click Add.
9. In the Add Criteria dialog box, select the field name you want to compare. For this example, choose "Title".
10. Click the Comparison list, and select "Like" or "Not Like".
11. In the Value box, specify the form field name you will use to search with, and then click OK three times.
12. Click Next twice.
13. In Step 5, click to select the Add Search Form check box to have FrontPage automatically create a search form.
14. Click Finish.

FrontPage will generate a SQL statement like the following: If you browse to the page and enter Sales Manager, you will see only those records that exactly matched the search string. If you enter Sales%, you will see all records that begin with the word Sales. The resulting SQL used by this query would be: The precent sign is a wildcard character so that the LIKE string can match multiple records.

NOTE: When you first browse the page or if the form field is blank when you submit the form, no records from the database will be returned. However, you can enter a value of a single precent sign and all records will be returned.

For additional information about SQL queries and FrontPage, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: