more complex queries

babygodzilla

so i have a column with numbers/letters containing 1-4 digits. Example: 001, 2A, 3, 105, 235C, something like that.

i have a script that works like a search engine, just a simple SELECT query really. some of my users have been complaining because i require them to enter the exact number for the script to work. like they must enter '001' and not '1'
is there an easy way to remedy this?

another question: what kind of query would i use to search a column having specific number of digits? for example, using the column mention above, I want to SELECT the rows that have 3 characters in that column, or 4 characters, something like that.

thanks!

LordShryku

Hrmm...never tried the digit length thing with MySQL, but with Oracle, you can use underscores. One underscor for each character

SELECT blah
FROM blah
WHERE field LIKE '____'

babygodzilla

hmm Oracle huh? i see, thx for your reply!

neone else?

RadioGeek

You are asking sort of strange questions. In fact, they are the kinds of questions that lead me to believe your database is/was poorly designed.

Can you post a schema so we can all delve further into what the table(s) in question look(s) like?

babygodzilla

oh hmmm 🙁 why do you think its poorly designed

babygodzilla

well the design is actually very simple, i didnt put too much time designing it, unfortunately...

It's a database that lists classes. I just have one table with multiple columns for variables like Course Number, Course Code, Course Title, Time, Room, etc etc etc... thats about it...

babygodzilla

i got it figured out. thx for the help guys!

i actually have a new question now. so my script works like a search engine for classes. it basically makes schedules for you. it searches the database for the classes you want, compares possible times and displays possible schedules. due to my server's constraints, right now I'm only analyzing 5000 combinations. what i want to do is to first analyze 1000 combinations, and then maybe have a button to do Next 1000 combinations, and Next 1000....etc etc i think you get the idea. Any good ideas how to go about this?