LIKE macro

The LIKE macro is available in HCL® Campaign and HCL Interact.

Syntax

data1 [NOT] LIKE data2

Parameters

data1

The cell range to compare. This can be a text string or an expression evaluating to a text string. For the format definition of data, see the "Macro Function Parameters" section in the chapter in this guide for your HCL product.

data2

The text pattern to compare all values in the specified column against. This can be a text string or an expression evaluating to a text string. The number of columns in data2 must equal the number of columns in data1, unless data2 is a constant. For the format definition of data, see the "Macro Function Parameters" section in the chapter in this guide for your HCL product.

An underscore (_) in data2 represents a wildcard character that will match any single character in data1. A percent sign (%) will match zero or more characters in data1.

Description

LIKE compares the two specified data ranges, returning a one if the strings match or a zero if they do not. It returns a new column for each input column, each containing the corresponding column in data1 compared to the corresponding column of data2 (that is, the first column of data1 is compared to the first column of data2, the second column with the second column, and so on).

If data2 is a string constant, each string in data1 is compared to that string. If data2 is a column, the calculations are performed on a row-by-row basis. The first row string in data1 is compared to the first row string of data2, the second row with the second row, and so on. This row-by-row calculation produces a result for each row up to the last string in the shortest column.

When comparing strings, case does not matter (that is, "Yes", "YES", "yes", and "yeS" are all considered equal).

Note: The LIKE macro has a negative version, NOT LIKE. The format for this is identical to LIKE. NOT LIKE returns a one if the string in data1 does not match the template defined by data2.

Examples


`TEMP = "gold" LIKE "gold"` Creates a new column named `TEMP` containing the value one (since the two strings match).
`TEMP = "No" LIKE "NO"` Creates a new column named `TEMP` containing the value one (string compares are case insensitive).
`TEMP = V1 LIKE "gold%"` Creates a new column named `TEMP`, where each value is one if the corresponding row value of the column `V1` is equal to the string "gold" followed by any number of characters. Otherwise, each value is zero.
`TEMP = V1 LIKE "g_ld"` Creates a new column named `TEMP`, where each value is one if the corresponding row value of the column `V1` is equal to the string "g" followed by any character, followed by "ld". Otherwise, each value is zero.
`TEMP = V1 LIKE V1` Creates a new column named `TEMP` containing all ones (since every number is equal to itself).
`TEMP = V1 LIKE V2` Creates a new column named `TEMP`, where each value is the row value of column `V1` compared to the corresponding row value of column `V2`.
`TEMP = V1:V3 LIKE V4:V6` Creates three new columns named `TEMP`, `VX`, and `VY`. The column `TEMP` contains the strings in `V1` compared to the corresponding row strings of column `V4`. The column `VX` compares columns `V2` and `V5`. The column `VY` compares columns `V3` and `V6`.
`TEMP = V1[10:20] LIKE V2` or `TEMP = V1[10:20] LIKE V2[1:11]` Creates a new column named `TEMP`, where the first 11 cells contain the results of comparing the strings in rows 10-20 of column `V1` to rows 1-11 of column `V2`. The other cells in `TEMP` are empty.

Related functions


Function	Description
`EQ`	Returns TRUE if one data range is equal to another
`GE`	Returns TRUE if one data range is greater than or equal to another
`GT`	Returns TRUE if one data range is greater than another
`LE`	Returns TRUE if one data range is less than or equal to another
`LT`	Returns TRUE if one data range is less than another
`NE`	Returns TRUE if one data range is not equal to another