Following examples shows how to use JPQL LIKE keyword to apply wildcard pattern matching.

% wildcard is used to match zero or more characters.

_ wildcard is used to match any single character.

The optional ESCAPE keyword at the end specifies an escape character of our choice. It is used if we want to use % or _ as literal rather than wildcards.

Examples

Entity

@Entity
public class Employee {
  @Id
  @GeneratedValue
  private long id;
  private String name;
  private String dept;
  private long salary;
    .............
}

Using LIKE expression

public class ExampleMain {
  private static EntityManagerFactory entityManagerFactory =
          Persistence.createEntityManagerFactory("example-unit");

  public static void main(String[] args) {
      try {
          persistEmployees();
          findEmployeeBySalary();
          findEmployeeByName();
          //not like and using parameter
          findEmployeeByName2();
          //escaping
          findEmployeeByDept();
      } finally {
          entityManagerFactory.close();
      }
  }

  public static void persistEmployees() {
      Employee employee1 = Employee.create("Diana", "IT", 3000);
      Employee employee2 = Employee.create("Rose", "Sales", 2000);
      Employee employee3 = Employee.create("Denise", "Admin", 4000);
      Employee employee4 = Employee.create("Mike", "H_R", 3500);
      EntityManager em = entityManagerFactory.createEntityManager();
      em.getTransaction().begin();
      em.persist(employee1);
      em.persist(employee2);
      em.persist(employee3);
      em.persist(employee4);
      em.getTransaction().commit();
      em.close();
  }

  private static void findEmployeeBySalary() {
      System.out.println("-- Employees with salary LIKE _500 --");
      EntityManager em = entityManagerFactory.createEntityManager();
      Query query = em.createQuery(
              "SELECT e FROM Employee e WHERE e.salary LIKE '_500' order by e.salary");
      List<Employee> resultList = query.getResultList();
      resultList.forEach(System.out::println);
      em.close();
  }

  private static void findEmployeeByName() {
      System.out.println("-- Employees name LIKE D% --");
      EntityManager em = entityManagerFactory.createEntityManager();
      Query query = em.createQuery(
              "SELECT e FROM Employee e WHERE e.name LIKE 'D%'");
      List<Employee> resultList = query.getResultList();
      resultList.forEach(System.out::println);
      em.close();
  }

  private static void findEmployeeByName2() {
      System.out.println("-- Employees name NOT LIKE D% --");
      EntityManager em = entityManagerFactory.createEntityManager();
      Query query = em.createQuery(
              "SELECT e FROM Employee e WHERE e.name NOT LIKE :nameStartsWith");
      query.setParameter("nameStartsWith", "D%");
      List<Employee> resultList = query.getResultList();
      resultList.forEach(System.out::println);
      em.close();
  }

  private static void findEmployeeByDept() {
      System.out.println("-- Employees dept LIKE '%@_%' ESCAPE '@' --");
      EntityManager em = entityManagerFactory.createEntityManager();
      //our escape character is '@'
      Query query = em.createQuery(
              "SELECT e FROM Employee e WHERE e.dept LIKE '%@_%' ESCAPE '@'");
      List<Employee> resultList = query.getResultList();
      resultList.forEach(System.out::println);
      em.close();
  }
}

-- Employees with salary LIKE _500 --
Employee{id=4, name='Mike', dept='H_R', salary=3500}
-- Employees name LIKE D% --
Employee{id=1, name='Diana', dept='IT', salary=3000}
Employee{id=3, name='Denise', dept='Admin', salary=4000}
-- Employees name NOT LIKE D% --
Employee{id=2, name='Rose', dept='Sales', salary=2000}
Employee{id=4, name='Mike', dept='H_R', salary=3500}
-- Employees dept LIKE '%@_%' ESCAPE '@' --
Employee{id=4, name='Mike', dept='H_R', salary=3500}

Example Project

Dependencies and Technologies Used:

• h2 1.4.197: H2 Database Engine.
• hibernate-core 5.2.13.Final: The core O/RM functionality as provided by Hibernate.
  Implements javax.persistence:javax.persistence-api version 2.1
• JDK 1.8
• Maven 3.3.9