On 24/04/2012 17:11, Tompkins Neil wrote:
> Hi
>
> I've a number of different postal codes in a system for example
>
> WC1B 5JA
> WC1H 8EJ
> W1J 7BX
> W1H 7DL
> NW1 1NY
>
> I can use like statements for example
>
> SELECT * FROM postal_codes WHERE zip LIKE 'W1%' giving me
>
> W1J 7BX
> W1H 7DL
>
> In addition I have a number of abbreviated postal codes like
>
> W1
> WC1
> WC2
> NW1
>
> Now, if I know the postal code W1J 7BX what is the best way using a MySQL
> query to get the abbreviated postal codes W1. Same if I have the postal
> code WC1H 8EJ, how do I get the abbreviated postal codes WC1
>
> Can I use any matching patterns ?
>
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/string-comparison-functions.html
Specifically, replace % with _ as this means "match one character" not
"match any number of characters". So, you can do:
like "W1 %"
like "W1_ %"
etc.
Does that help?
Gary
