what is wrong with the following SQL syntax using "CONTAINS"?

[×’× ×Ÿ גידל דגן]

Following examples i found on the web i tried to build my own SQL condition
for a query to search all columns in table "a" for the text containing the
word milk.
Here is what i came up with:

SELECT *
FROM [a]
WHERE CONTAINS(*, milk)

I am getting error message: "Syntax error (missing operator) in Query
Expression 'CONTAINS(*,milk)'

what is the missing operator?

i tried replacing "*" with a specific column name but i am still getting the
same error.

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

There is no CONTAINS operator in SQL.

The correct syntax would be

SELECT *
FROM [a]
WHERE [fieldname] = "milk"

or

SELECT *
FROM [a]
WHERE [fieldname] LIKE "*milk*"

 

[Jeff Boyce]

SQL comes in "dialects" ... Where are you trying to use this?

If you are working completely within Access (front-end and back-end),
perhaps the phrase you're looking for is IN('a','b', ...) instead of
CONTAINS().

.... and if you have a well-normalized table structure, you probably wouldn't
need to be checking "all columns in a table for" a text string.

Take a look at Access HELP for the proper syntax using wildcard characters
in Access.

Good Luck!

--

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Access MVP

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