SQLAlchemy query where a column contains a substring
Question:
I’m constructing a query using SQLAlchemy and SQLite3 in which I’d like to select rows in which a String column contains a particular substring. What is the best way to accomplish this?
Answers:
Filter by db.table.column.like('%needle%')
. There is also ilike
for a case insensitive search.
For a fancier interface you can allow for the known “dir” wildcards.
if '*' in needle or '_' in needle:
looking_for = needle.replace('_', '__')
.replace('*', '%')
.replace('?', '_')
else:
looking_for = '%{0}%'.format(needle)
result = db.table.filter(db.table.column.ilike(looking_for))
Notes:
- The
db.table.filter
and db.table.column
is for SQLSoup
(SQLSoup is useful if the database was made by another application)
- for SQLAlchemy Core it is
select(column_list).where(table.c.column.ilike(expr))
. This interface is the way to go when you want all the power from raw SQL without having to compose statements by hand using string interpolation (use it along SQLSoup for introspection, so you don’t need to declare tables)
- for SQLAlchemy Declarative (the one used in Flask) it is
Model.query.filter(Model.field.ilike(expr))
While table.c.column.like("%...%")
should work, there is a more direct way to say what you want:
table.c.column.contains("needle")
This will usually generate the same SQL query but it is better to read for the uninitiated.
Note that contains does not seem to escape “_” and “%”.
@app.route('/<var>', methods=['GET'])
def getdb(var):
look_for = '%{0}%'.format(var)
log1 = table.query.filter(table.col.like(look_for))
I’ve used SQLAlchemy and Flask (app.route on top is a decorator).
I used the get API to take in the variable that the user wishes to search for and I’m converting that variable to store it in another variable called look_for(since var cannot be used directly in the query) by using the format() and log1 stores the queried tuples.
Here is a way to di in the newest versions of sqlalchemy
query = select(table_name).where(table_name.column.contains("value_youre_searching_for"))
results = await db.execute(query)
data = results.scalars().all()
I’m constructing a query using SQLAlchemy and SQLite3 in which I’d like to select rows in which a String column contains a particular substring. What is the best way to accomplish this?
Filter by db.table.column.like('%needle%')
. There is also ilike
for a case insensitive search.
For a fancier interface you can allow for the known “dir” wildcards.
if '*' in needle or '_' in needle:
looking_for = needle.replace('_', '__')
.replace('*', '%')
.replace('?', '_')
else:
looking_for = '%{0}%'.format(needle)
result = db.table.filter(db.table.column.ilike(looking_for))
Notes:
- The
db.table.filter
anddb.table.column
is forSQLSoup
(SQLSoup is useful if the database was made by another application) - for SQLAlchemy Core it is
select(column_list).where(table.c.column.ilike(expr))
. This interface is the way to go when you want all the power from raw SQL without having to compose statements by hand using string interpolation (use it along SQLSoup for introspection, so you don’t need to declare tables) - for SQLAlchemy Declarative (the one used in Flask) it is
Model.query.filter(Model.field.ilike(expr))
While table.c.column.like("%...%")
should work, there is a more direct way to say what you want:
table.c.column.contains("needle")
This will usually generate the same SQL query but it is better to read for the uninitiated.
Note that contains does not seem to escape “_” and “%”.
@app.route('/<var>', methods=['GET'])
def getdb(var):
look_for = '%{0}%'.format(var)
log1 = table.query.filter(table.col.like(look_for))
I’ve used SQLAlchemy and Flask (app.route on top is a decorator).
I used the get API to take in the variable that the user wishes to search for and I’m converting that variable to store it in another variable called look_for(since var cannot be used directly in the query) by using the format() and log1 stores the queried tuples.
Here is a way to di in the newest versions of sqlalchemy
query = select(table_name).where(table_name.column.contains("value_youre_searching_for"))
results = await db.execute(query)
data = results.scalars().all()