like_to_rlike.html

<h3>NAME</h3>
like_to_rlike(): Convert a LIKE expression to an RLIKE (REGEXP) expression.
<h3>TYPE</h3>
Function

<h3>DESCRIPTION</h3>
<p>
	This function modifies a <strong>LIKE</strong> expression into a compatible expression 
	to work with <strong>RLIKE</strong> (REGEXP).
</p>
<p>
	<strong>LIKE</strong> expressions use "<strong>_</strong>" for single character pattern mapping,
	and "<strong>%</strong>" for multiple characters (zero or more) pattern mapping.
</p>
<p>
	Regular expressions use "<strong>.</strong>" and "<strong>.*</strong>" instead. The routine
	translates to a matching regular expression pattern, while taking care to escape some
	(this is incomplete) characters which are special characters in regular expression, that may
	have appeared in the <strong>LIKE</strong> expression.
	
</p>

<h3>SYNOPSIS</h3>
<p>
<blockquote><pre>like_to_rlike(expression TEXT CHARSET utf8)
  RETURNS TEXT CHARSET utf8</pre></blockquote>
</p>
<p>
  Input:
  <ul>
    <li><strong>expression</strong>: a <strong>LIKE</strong> expression
	</li>
  </ul>
</p>

<h3>EXAMPLES</h3>

<blockquote><pre>mysql&gt; SELECT like_to_rlike('customer%');
+----------------------------+
| like_to_rlike('customer%') |
+----------------------------+
| ^customer.*$               |
+----------------------------+
</pre></blockquote>

<blockquote><pre>mysql&gt; SELECT like_to_rlike('c_oun%');
+-------------------------+
| like_to_rlike('c_oun%') |
+-------------------------+
| ^c.oun.*$               |
+-------------------------+
</pre></blockquote>

<h3>ENVIRONMENT</h3>
MySQL 5.1 or newer

<h3>AUTHOR</h3>
Shlomi Noach