VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

Like Operator

Syntax

result = string Like pattern

result

Use: Required

Data Type: Boolean

If string matches pattern, result is True; otherwise, result is False.

string

Use: Required

Data Type: String

The string to be tested against pattern.

pattern

Use: Required

Data Type: String

A series of characters used by the Like operator to determine if string and pattern match.

Description

Determines if a string matches a given pattern.

Rules at a Glance

• If either string or pattern is Null, then result is Null.

• The default comparison method for the Like operator is binary. This can be overridden using the Option Compare statement.

• Binary comparison is based on comparing the internal binary number representing each character; this produces a case-sensitive comparison.

• Text comparison, the alternative to binary comparison, is case insensitive; therefore, A = a.

• The sort order is based on the code page currently being used, as determined by the Windows regional settings.

• The following table describes the special characters to use when creating pattern; all other characters match themselves:

  Character	Meaning
  ?	Any single character
  *	Zero or more characters
  #	Any single digit (0-9)
  [list]	Any single character in list
  [!list]	Any single character not in list
  []	A zero-length string ("")

• list matches a group of characters in pattern to a single character in string and can contain almost all available characters, including digits.

• Use a hyphen (-) in list to create a range of characters to match ...