Like the DB2 LIKE
The LIKE phrase defines a mask for comparing characters:
WHERE COL_VAL [NOT] LIKE mask
A mask may be a host variable or a literal enclosed in quotes and may contain any number of:
| Mask | What to Find? |
|---|---|
| character literal | for an exact match |
| underscore character | for any single character |
| percent sign character | for any sequence of characters of length 0 or more |
For example:
| Mask | Example Outout |
|---|---|
| ‘NEW %’ | NEW YORK’ but not ‘NEWARK’ |
| ‘T_N’ | ‘TAN’, ‘TIN’, or ‘TON’, but not ‘TUNE’ |
| ‘T_N%’ | ‘TUNE’ |
| ‘%CA%’ | ‘CAT’, ‘GO CART’, ‘MOCA’, etc. |
| ‘%CA% ' | ‘CAT ’ but not ‘CAT’ |
To use a host variable for a mask to produce the same effect as the literal mask in the second-to-last example, code it right-padded with “%” characters to avoid the effect of the last example.
05 WS-MASK PIC X(6) VALUE ‘%CA%%%’.
The IN phrase chooses from a given set:
WHERE COL_VAL [NOT] IN (:HOST-VAR, ‘LITERAL’, COL1 + COL2, …)
Multiple list items that contain the same value are considered as a single item. The BETWEEN phrase chooses from a range of inclusive limits:
WHERE COL_VAL [NOT] BETWEEN [:HOST-VAR1, ‘LIT1’]
AND [:HOST-VAR2, ‘LIT2’]