Check if string contains another string

Question

In T-SQL, how would you check if a string doesn't contain another string?

I have an nvarchar which could be "Oranges Apples".

I would like to do an update where, for instance, a columm doesn't contain "Apples".

How can this be done?

Answer 1

WHERE NOT (someColumn LIKE "%Apples%")

Answer 2

Or alternatively, you could use this:

WHERE CHARINDEX(N'Apples', someColumn) = 0

Not sure which one performs better - you gotta test it! :-)

Marc

UPDATE: the performance seems to be pretty much on a par with the other solution (WHERE someColumn NOT LIKE '%Apples%') - so it's really just a question of your personal preference.

Answer 3

Use this as your WHERE condition

WHERE CHARINDEX('Apples', column) = 0