Using Like on a Parameter Variable?

Question

Select Column1 From Table Where @Variable Like \'%\' + Column2 + \'%\'

Doesn\'t seem to work how I thought it would. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

If you have a limited number of columns, you can use case:

where  case 
       when @Variable = 'col1' then col1 
       when @Variable = 'col2' then col2
       when @Variable = 'col3' then col3 
       ...
       end like '%' + Column2 + '%'

Another option is dynamic SQL:

declare @sql nvarchar(max)
set @sql = 'Select Column1 From Table Where ' + @Variable + 
    ' Like ''%'' + Column2 + ''%'''
exec (@sql)