Re: Index usage with Wildcards - Informix vs. Oracle

At 08:11 AM 9/16/96 -0500, Richard Spitz wrote: ::Hello, :: ::after a controversial discussion with some colleagues, I want to ask ::this question to the collective net wisdom: :: ::When a query is done using wildcards (e.g. ...WHERE column LIKE 'HUB%'), ::can the engine use an existing index on that column? :: ::To my knowledge, Informix can use the index as long as the wildcard ::is not the first character in the query string, as in the above example. :: ::Our Oracle people claim that Oracle cannot use an index as soon as ::wildcards are involved. Is that really true? :: ::Regards, Richard Your skepticism is well-founded. Oracle will behave the same way as Informix when the wildcard character is not the first character in the query string. Your example of (...WHERE column LIKE 'HUB%') will cause Oracle to use the index, providing of course that "column" is an indexed field (either by itself or the first field in a concatenated key). Rick ---------------------------------------------------------------- | Rick Christie | Platinum technology, inc. | | christie@platinum.com | 620 W. Germantown Pike | | Advisory Product Developer | Suite 200 | | Aston Brooke Development Lab | Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 | ----------------------------------------------------------------