How to us %%%

[nicdp]

How do I have to use %%%? When do I have to put 1,2 or 3 in a mysql string?

Do you know any article wher eI can find some explanation?

[Anon]

% is a wildcard identifier for sql strings. You can put them inside the '' when building a SQL query. If you want to search for dogwood in a database you can search for dog%

if you are looking for any terms that have "dog" inside the field then you do '%dog%'

-S

[[deleted]]

1. Wildcard searches like '%foo%' and '%bar'
   cannot use any indexes, which makes them very slow.

2. If you want to know something about your database, the first place you should look is in it's manual.

[Anon]

What are some alternatives to performing searches like this?

-S

[[deleted]]

If you are looking for raw speed, then you can use special search-tables that contain pre-processed data. There is an example of something like that in the articles section: slapping together a search engine.