# Easy newbie question: find conditions **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [August 11, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594 "2008-08-11T22:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/1 "2008-08-11T22:28:28Z")
Hello! I am trying to run a simple find, and don’t know how to do it. I’m essentially creating a glossary, and I want to be able to find all the words that begin with each letter. Seems like I ought to be able to do something like this: Word.find(:all, :conditions =\> [‘spelling=?’, ‘a\*’]) But that doesn’t work… How do a find all the records where the spelling begins with ‘a’? ---
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/2 "2008-08-11T22:51:18Z")
Excellent, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/3 "2008-08-11T22:44:27Z")
On Aug 11, 3:28 pm, Morgan K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > ## But that doesn’t work… How do a find all the records where the spelling begins with ‘a’? You’ll need a LIKE clause: Work.find :all, :conditions =\> [‘spelling LIKE ?’, ‘a%’] Note also that SQL uses % instead of \*. Jeff REST with Rails, Oct 4, 2008 in Austin, TX: [http://www.purpleworkshops.com/workshops/rest-and-web-services](http://www.purpleworkshops.com/workshops/rest-and-web-services) [softiesonrails.com](http://softiesonrails.com) - blog [purpleworkshops.com](http://purpleworkshops.com) - training [pragprog.com/titles/cerailn](http://pragprog.com/titles/cerailn) - Upcoming book, Rails for .NET Developers ---
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/4 "2008-08-11T22:59:32Z")
As a further addendum, what if I wanted to find all words that begin with ‘a’ and ‘b’ in one query? If it helps, I’m using sqlite3. ---
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/5 "2008-08-11T22:55:00Z")
On Mon, 2008-08-11 at 22:28 +0200, Morgan K. wrote: > But that doesn’t work… How do a find all the records where the > spelling begins with ‘a’? * * * probably depends upon your sql backend but something like this should work… Word.find(:all, :conditions =\> [“spelling LIKE ?”, “a%”]) Craig ---
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/6 "2008-08-11T23:27:47Z")
On Aug 11, 3:59 pm, Morgan K. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > As a further addendum, what if I wanted to find all words that begin > with ‘a’ and ‘b’ in one query? > > ## If it helps, I’m using sqlite3. > > Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/. Probably something like this: Work.find :all, :conditions =\> [‘spelling LIKE ? OR spelling LIKE ?’, ‘a%’, ‘b%’] My SQL-fu isn’t great so there might be a better way to do it. Jeff REST with Rails, Oct 4, 2008 in Austin, TX: [http://www.purpleworkshops.com/workshops/rest-and-web-services](http://www.purpleworkshops.com/workshops/rest-and-web-services) [softiesonrails.com](http://softiesonrails.com) - blog [purpleworkshops.com](http://purpleworkshops.com) - training [pragprog.com/titles/cerailn](http://pragprog.com/titles/cerailn) - Upcoming book, Rails for .NET Developers ---
**Author:** ![gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/b5e925/32.png) [@gwendydd](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/gwendydd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/easy-newbie-question-find-conditions/145594/7 "2008-08-12T00:20:39Z")
I, too, am using sqlite3 and this works for me: > > Video.find(:all, :conditions=\>[‘title LIKE ? OR title LIKE ?’, ‘a%’, ‘b%’]) > > =\> [#\