Query across all colums

Hi folks. This is my first post around here.
So I want to query a select on a table. Is there a simpler way to match the where clause with all columns than referencing every single column in the where clause?
Thanks
Shabassanot really|||Ok, thanks was worth a question.|||If you are comparing all the columns in one table to all the columns in another, you may be able to use the CHECKSUM or BINARYCHECKSUM functions:

select subA.APKey, sbuB.BPKey
from
(select A.PKey as APKey, CHECKSUM(*) as ChecksumA from A) subA
full outer join
(select B.PKey as BPKey, CHECKSUM(*) as ChecksumB from B) subB
on subA.ChecksumA = subB.ChecksumB
where ...|||blindman, i think the problem was to write this --

... WHERE a LIKE '%x%' OR b LIKE '%x%' OR c LIKE '%x%' OR d LIKE '%x%'

in some easier fashion, e.g.

... WHERE allcolumns LIKE '%x%'

and the answer, of course, is "not really" :cool:|||While Rudy is quite right in terms of how SQL itself does things, there are extensions to many database engines that make this kind of search easier. In MS-SQL, this is called Full Text Indexing (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/architec/8_ar_sa2_5dro.asp).

-PatP|||pat, all things considered, full text indexing is not "simpler" (one of shabassa's original requirements)

:)|||From the standpoint of managing the server, you are quite right. Full-Text Indexing brings its own problems to the table.

From the standpoint of writing a search query though, I feel that it is simpler and I don't think anyone would argue it is much less code.

-PatP|||blindman, i think the problem was to write this --

... WHERE a LIKE '%x%' OR b LIKE '%x%' OR c LIKE '%x%' OR d LIKE '%x%'

in some easier fashion, e.g.

... WHERE allcolumns LIKE '%x%'

and the answer, of course, is "not really" :cool:

Could be. Without a doubt he needs to be more specific.|||I doubt it though....

I think they're looking for duplicates...

Or they're just trying to establish a join between to related tables, just in the keys?|||Or attempting to create a search feature for their application that searches against a catalog of objects where the entry could match a value in any number of fields (Ex: Name, Description, Price, etc).|||Step right up, folks! Play "Guess the user requirements" and win a prize for the little lady! Who's next? Every player has a chance to win! You sir, yes you...!|||Well if I was programming an application that searched across the table there would be no problem doing it in some kind of loop. I was just lazy and wanted to look for a certain row where I entered a date in an application accessing that db. But I didn't know to which colum the text field in the app corresponded to. So I wanted to search across all columns at once using the Enterprise Manager.
I hope that clears things up. ;)

How would this be possible with full text indexing? Do I magically get some kind of search field?

Shabassa