[synlight]

I have a query to return the names of vendors, their names are split into first name and last name fields. I am trying to return vendors whose last name begins with A, B, C, or E. Here is my query:

SELECT VendorContactLName + ', ' + VendorContactFName AS 'Full Name'
FROM Vendors
WHERE VendorContactLName < 'F' AND VendorContactLName <> 'D'
ORDER BY VendorContactLName, VendorContactFName

It is returning ALL the names under F, including ones whose last name starts with a 'D', I can't figure out why, it seems like a pretty straightforward condition

[Jstall]

Hi,

Well this:

VendorContactLName < 'F'

Is looking for anything that is less than F while this

VendorContactLName <> 'D'

Is comparing to the literal 'D' you are checking if the value is 'D' and only that.

With the data:

Apple
Banana
Cherry
D 
Doughnut 
Egg

You would get:

Apple
Banana
Cherry
Doughnut 
Egg

You could use LIKE to check if the value begins with D:

SELECT VendorContactLName + ', ' + VendorContactFName AS 'Full Name'
FROM Vendors
WHERE VendorContactLName < 'F' AND VendorContactLName NOT LIKE 'D%'
ORDER BY VendorContactLName, VendorContactFName

Hope this helps

[synlight]

Ahhhhh!! That makes sense!! I'm going to go read up on 'LIKE'..

Thanks so much for the help!!!

Jstall, on 26 August 2012 - 02:15 PM, said:

Hi,

Well this:

VendorContactLName < 'F'

Is looking for anything that is less than F while this

VendorContactLName <> 'D'

Is comparing to the literal 'D' you are checking if the value is 'D' and only that.

With the data:

Apple
Banana
Cherry
D 
Doughnut 
Egg

You would get:

Apple
Banana
Cherry
Doughnut 
Egg

You could use LIKE to check if the value begins with D:

SELECT VendorContactLName + ', ' + VendorContactFName AS 'Full Name'
FROM Vendors
WHERE VendorContactLName < 'F' AND VendorContactLName NOT LIKE 'D%'
ORDER BY VendorContactLName, VendorContactFName

Hope this helps