String matching¶

These functions perform pattern matching on string properties using Hibernate's HibernateCriteriaBuilder.

No opt-in required

These functions are stable and do not require @OptIn(ExperimentalHibernateApi::class).

Setup¶

@Entity
class User(
    @Id val id: Long,
    val name: String,
    val email: String?,
)

`ilike` / `notIlike`¶

Case-insensitive LIKE pattern matching. Patterns use SQL wildcards: % matches any sequence of characters, _ matches any single character.

val smiths = User::name.ilike("%smith%")
val notSmiths = User::name.notIlike("%smith%")

repository.findAll(smiths)

`likeRegexp` / `notLikeRegexp`¶

Case-sensitive POSIX regex matching. Uses the PostgreSQL ~ operator under the hood.

val smiths = User::name.likeRegexp("^Smith\\b")
val notSmiths = User::name.notLikeRegexp("^Smith\\b")

repository.findAll(smiths)

Unlike ilike, the pattern .*smith.* would not match "John Smith" because the match is case-sensitive.

`ilikeRegexp` / `notIlikeRegexp`¶

Case-insensitive POSIX regex matching. Uses the PostgreSQL ~* operator under the hood.

val smiths = User::name.ilikeRegexp(".*smith.*")
val notSmiths = User::name.notIlikeRegexp(".*smith.*")

repository.findAll(smiths)

Nested properties¶

All functions work on nested properties via the / operator:

val spec = (Organisation::organisationInfo / OrganisationInfo::addressInfo / AddressInfo::street).ilike("main%")
val specRegex = (Organisation::organisationInfo / OrganisationInfo::addressInfo / AddressInfo::street).ilikeRegexp("^main")

repository.findAll(spec)

DSL layers¶

All functions are available in all three DSL layers: Specification, PredicateSpecification, and raw Predicate.