# 4585 Using Only Multiple Wildcard (%) Characters in LIKE Expressions Causes Blank Values to be Excluded

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I have what I think will be a simple question, but I’m not sure how to re-write the query or the code that runs the query. I am using Elevate DB with EWB. The query I currently have is as follows.

When I fill in any of the edits that provide the values for the query, the query works perfectly – but only if the record has something in all the fields mentioned in the query. If for instance, the drivers license is blank, the query does not pick up the record. The % wildcards in the following code, seem to pickup anything so long as it’s not blank.

The Search button contains the following code:

 with qCliSearch do begin
   Params.Clear;
   Params.Add('Surname=' + QuotedStr('%' + eSurname.Text + '%'));
   Params.Add('FirstName=' + QuotedStr('%' + eFirst.Text + '%'));
   Params.Add('Drivers_License=' + QuotedStr('%' + eDriversLic.Text + '%'));
   Params.Add('Passport_No=' + QuotedStr('%' + ePassport.Text + '%'));
   if eDOB.Text <> '' then begin
     sDate := ADateStr(eDOB.SelectedDate);  //formats and quotes the date as ‘2000-01-31’
     Params.Add('startDOB=' + sDate);
     Params.Add('endDOB=' + sDate);
   end;
   Database.LoadRows(qCliSearch);
 end;