Comparing Uppercase record with lowercase query

Question

Hi, im working off of a database with all uppercase values currently and im attempting to do a like clause to pull out of the database something "like" the value I'm using to query. For example, if the lastname is SMITH, and I enter Smi%, I want to pull SMITH out of the database without having to enter a capital SMI%. Whats the best way for me to do this comparison?

Answer 1

As Justin said, using UPPER(column) will stop you from using indexes on that column in a query. Function based indexes are one way around that. The other way would be to create a trigger BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE of the table to normalize tha lastname column. something like:
CREATE TRIGGER norm_name
BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE ON table
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN
     :new.lastname := UPPER(:new.lastname);
END;You could also use INITCAP instead of UPPER if you want the names in mixed case. That way, you will at least have a standard way of querying even if you can't make your users behave.
John