SELECT ... WHERE ...?

[Anon]

I am trying to be able to search for data in my database and want to be able to SELECT data WHERE a field contains, but doesn't neccessarily equal a string. Is there a certain operator that I should use in this case?

This is what I have:

$query = "SELECT name,occupation,email FROM people WHERE name='Jason'";

However, this will only select where the name is exactly 'Jason'.

[Anon]

what do you mean, like have "SELECT * FROM table" You dont have to have the WHERE unless you are making a pin point (or want to cut you search). If im wrong, dont blame me, im still a lil new to this.

[lawnmowerman]

I think what you're looking for is searching for a string in the field.

Give this a try:
$query = "SELECT name, occupation, email FROM people WHERE name LIKE '%so%'";

This will return rows with name like:
Jason
Orson
Sonny
Sophie
etc

Hope this helps!

-Rich