## Syntax
```mermaid
%%{init: {
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'themeVariables': {
'fontSize': '11px',
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}}%%
flowchart LR
Start((START)) --> REGEXP_LIKE[REGEXP_LIKE]:::quoted
REGEXP_LIKE --> End((END))
```
## Purpose
The `REGEXP_LIKE` SQL function reports whether a regular expression occurs in the given value. It returns `true` when the value contains at least one match and `false` when it contains none. The regular expression must follow the Microsoft.net regular expression language.
The function is meant for a `where` clause, where it selects the rows whose value matches. It may also be used as a column of a select list, which Oracle does not allow.
See also [[REGEXP_COUNT]], [[REGEXP_INSTR]], [[REGEXP_REPLACE]] and [[REGEXP_SUBSTR]].
Parameters:
- Input (`varchar2`): The text to search through.
- Pattern (`varchar2`): Regular expression pattern.
- Start position (optional, `int32`): The start index from the input. Defaults to `1`.
- Match_parameter (optional, `varchar2`): A text literal that lets you change the default matching behaviour of the function. Defaults to `''`.
Returns: `true` when the pattern occurs in the input, `false` when it does not, and empty when either the input or the pattern is empty.
The match is case-sensitive unless the match parameter says otherwise. When the match parameter holds both `c` and `i`, the last of the two decides, as in Oracle.
## Examples
The following example reports that `Invantive` contains `van`:
```sql
select regexp_like('Invantive', 'van')
-------------------
true
```
The following example finds the same text in upper case by ignoring case:
```sql
select regexp_like('INVANTIVE', 'van', 1, 'i')
-------------------
true
```
The following example selects the rows whose code consists of two capitals, a hyphen and four digits:
```sql
select cde.code
from codes cde
where regexp_like(cde.code, '^[A-Z]{2}-[0-9]{4}