TypeORM: Using LIKE Operator (2 Examples)

In TypeORM, the Like operator (with the percent sign %) is used to search for a specified pattern in a column. This concise article walks you through 2 examples of selecting data with the Like operator in 2 different ways:

• Using the find() method
• Using a query builder

A quick note about the Like keyword and the percent sign:

• Like ‘kindacode.com%’: Finds any values that start with “kindacode.com”
• Like ‘%kindacode.com’: Finds any values that end with “kindacode.com”
• Like ‘%kindacode.com%’: Finds any values that contain “kindacode.com” (in any position)

We’ll work with a sample entity named Post (that stores blog posts in three columns: id, title, and body):

import { Entity, Column, PrimaryGeneratedColumn, Unique } from 'typeorm';

@Entity()
@Unique(['title'])
export class Post {
    @PrimaryGeneratedColumn()
    id: number;
    
    @Column()
    title: string;
    
    @Column()
    body: string;
}

Using the find() method

This example selects all blog posts whose titles contain the word: ‘kindacode.com’.

import { Like } from 'typeorm';

/*...*/
const postRepository = myDataSource.getRepository(Post);
const posts = await postRepository.find({
      where: { title: Like('%kindacode.com%') },
});

console.log(posts);

Using a query builder

This code snippet does the same thing as the preceding one, but in a distinguishable manner (you don’t have to import { Like } from ‘typeorm’):

const postRepository = myDataSource.getRepository(Post);
const posts = await postRepository
      .createQueryBuilder('post')
      .where('post.title LIKE :title', { title: '%kindacode.com%' })
      .getMany();

console.log(posts);

That’s it. Further reading:

• TypeORM Upsert: Update If Exists, Create If Not Exists
• TypeORM: Find Rows Where Column Value is IN an Array
• How to Store JSON Object with TypeORM
• TypeORM: How to Limit Query Execution Time
• TypeORM: 2 Ways to Exclude a Column from being Selected

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