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8597

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3

I want to find an SQL query to find rows where field1 does not contain $x. How can I do this?

+2  A: 

SELECT * FROM table WHERE field1 NOT LIKE '%$x%'; (Make sure you escape $x properly beforehand to avoid SQL injection)

Edit: NOT IN does something a bit different - your question isn't totally clear so pick which one to use. LIKE 'xxx%' can use an index. LIKE '%xxx' or LIKE '%xxx%' can't.

Greg
+10  A: 

What kind of field is this? The IN operator cannot be used with a single field, but is meant to be used in subqueries or with predefined lists:

-- subquery
SELECT a FROM x WHERE x.b NOT IN (SELECT b FROM y);
-- predefined list
SELECT a FROM x WHERE x.b NOT IN (1, 2, 3, 6);

If you are searching a string, go for the LIKE operator (but this will be slow):

-- Finds all rows where a does not contain "text"
SELECT * FROM x WHERE x.a NOT LIKE '%text%';

If you restrict it so that the string you are searching for has to start with the given string, it can use indices (if there is an index on that field) and be reasonably fast:

-- Finds all rows where a does not start with "text"
SELECT * FROM x WHERE x.a NOT LIKE 'text%';
Vegard Larsen
A: 

Hello and good day for everyone

Try the SELECT DISTINCT

a note: you can use regular expression on sql

With no more.... bye bye

yeradis
I wonder if you understood the question correctly? SELECT DISTINCT will not accomplish what the questioner seeks.
DOK