Search for string within text column in MySQL

Question

I have mysql table that has a column that stores xml as a string. I need to find all tuples where the xml column contains a given string of 6 characters. Nothing else matters--all I need to know is if this 6 character string is there or not.

So it probably doesn't matter that the text is formatted as xml.

Question: how can I search within mysql? ie SELECT * FROM items WHERE items.xml [contains the text '123456']

Is there a way I can use the LIKE operator to do this?

Thanks

Answer 1

SELECT * FROM items WHERE `items.xml` LIKE '%123456%'

The % operator in LIKE means "anything can be here".

Answer 2

you mean:

SELECT * FROM items WHERE items.xml '%123456%'

?

Answer 3

Why not use LIKE?

SELECT * FROM items WHERE items.xml LIKE '%123456%'