sqlmysqldatabase

MySQL query finding values in a comma separated string

I have a field COLORS (varchar(50)) in a my table SHIRTS that contains a comma delimited string such as 1,2,5,12,15,. Each number representing the available colors.

When running the query select * from shirts where colors like '%1%' to get all the red shirts (color=1), I also get the shirts whose color is grey (=12) and orange (=15).

How should I rewrite the query so that is selects ONLY the color 1 and not all colors containing the number 1?

Solution

  • The classic way would be to add commas to the left and right:

    select * from shirts where CONCAT(',', colors, ',') like '%,1,%'

    But find_in_set also works:

    select * from shirts where find_in_set('1',colors) <> 0