Is there a way to use the LIKE operator from an entity framework query? - sql

Question

OK, I want to use the LIKE keyword from an Entity Framework query for a rather unorthodox reason - I want to match strings more precisely than when using the equals operator.
Because the equals operator automatically pads the string to be matched with spaces such that col = 'foo ' will actually return a row where col equals 'foo' OR 'foo ', I want to force trailing whitespaces to be taken into account, and the LIKE operator actually does that.
I know that you can coerce Entity Framework into using the LIKE operator using .StartsWith, .EndsWith, and .Contains in a query. However, as might be expected, this causes EF to prefix, suffix, and surround the queried text with wildcard % characters. Is there a way I can actually get Entity Framework to directly use the LIKE operator in SQL to match a string in a query of mine, without adding wildcard characters? Ideally it would look like this:
string usernameToMatch = "admin ";
if (context.Users.Where(usr => usr.Username.Like(usernameToMatch)).Any()) {
// An account with username 'admin ' ACTUALLY exists
}
else {
// An account with username 'admin' may exist, but 'admin ' doesn't
}
I can't find a way to do this directly; right now, the best I can think of is this hack:
context.Users.Where(usr =>
usr.Username.StartsWith(usernameToMatch) &&
usr.Username.EndsWith(usernameToMatch) &&
usr.Username == usernameToMatch
)
Is there a better way? By the way I don't want to use PATINDEX because it looks like a SQL Server-specific thing, not portable between databases.

Answer 1

There isn't a way to get EF to use LIKE in its query, However you could write a stored procedure that finds users using LIKE with an input parameter and use EF to hit your stored procedure.
Your particular situation however seems to be more of a data integrity issue though. You shouldn't be allowing users to register usernames that start or end with a space (username.Trim()) for pretty much this reason. Once you do that then this particular issue goes away entirely.
Also, allowing 'rough' matches on authentication details is beyond insecure. Don't do it.

Answer 2

Well there doesn't seem to be a way to get EF to use the LIKE operator without padding it at the beginning or end with wildcard characters, as I mentioned in my question, so I ended up using this combination which, while a bit ugly, has the same effect as a LIKE without any wildcards:
context.Users.Where(usr =>
usr.Username.StartsWith(usernameToMatch) &&
usr.Username.EndsWith(usernameToMatch) &&
usr.Username == usernameToMatch
)
So, if the value is LIKE '[usernameToMatch]%' and it's LIKE '%[usernameToMatch]' and it = '[usernameToMatch]' then it matches exactly.