Crystal Reports - Wildcard in Command parameter

Question

This is what i use now
{Command.COUNTRY} like {?Country}
?Country is a value entered by the user, this could be upper case or lower case and could be part of the country name.
What is the crystal reports equivalent to achieve the above.
something like
caseinsensitive {Command.COUNTRY} like {%?Country%}
CStr did not work do did
{Command.COUNTRY} like  '%'{?Country}'%'

Answer 1

Things are a little different in CR...
#1) The wildcard you're looking for is "*" not "%"
#2) Use the "&" to concatenate strings. Save the "+" for addition
#3) Using a hard coded string, the formula would look like this...
{Command.COUNTRY} like "*erman*"
#4) Unfortunately, sticking wildcard characters to either end of a parameter doesn't work the same as it does with hard coded values.
#5) Fortunately, you're using a command... So #4 doesn't matter... Assuming of course that you are trying to create a record selection formula.
#6) You're do doing your record selection in the wrong place... If you're using a command, you need to add the parameter to the WHERE clause of your SQL query...Again, working with the assumption that this is for record selection.
#7) How to accomplish #6...
- 1) Right click and choose Edit... to open the command in edit mode.
- 2) Add the parameter to the parameter list. Make sure to spell it EXACTLY the same as you have it spelled in the designer (otherwise you'll create a 2nd, unrelated parameter)
- 3) Add or modify the WHERE clause to the command SQL. In your case (assuming MS SQLServer based on the syntax you posted).
It should look something like this...
WHERE TableName.Country LIKE '%{?Country}%'
CR will drop the parameter values into the SQL replacing the parameter name with the parameter value before sending it to the server. No need to write dynamic SQL!!!
The code sent to the server would look something like this...
WHERE TableName.Country LIKE '%Germany%'
#8) If you're wandering why it matters or why you don't want to use the Selection Expert when using a command?
Answer: When you use a command, CR is no longer able to push it's logic back to the server. So the command will pull EVERY record without any filtering back to your local workstation where it will be filtered locally. Adding the where clause to the command itself avoids the issue altogether.
HTH,
Jason