Intermediate 25 min read

Filtering with WHERE

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:

Filter query results using a WHERE clause
Combine multiple conditions with AND and OR
Use LIKE for partial text matching

Prerequisites: "Your First SOQL Query"

A basic WHERE clause

List<Account> techAccounts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Technology'];

List<Account> techAccounts = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Industry = 'Technology']; — this is exactly the comparison operators from Module 4, now filtering which records the database returns rather than branching Apex code — =, !=, >, <, >=, <= all work the same way inside a WHERE clause.

Combining conditions with AND / OR

List<Account> largeTechAccounts = [
    SELECT Id, Name FROM Account
    WHERE Industry = 'Technology' AND NumberOfEmployees > 500
];

List<Account> techOrFinance = [
    SELECT Id, Name FROM Account
    WHERE Industry = 'Technology' OR Industry = 'Finance'
];

List<Account> largeTechAccounts = [ — a query with two combined conditions.
SELECT Id, Name FROM Account — the fields and object.
WHERE Industry = 'Technology' AND NumberOfEmployees > 500 — AND requires every condition to be true.
]; — closes the query.
(blank line)
List<Account> techOrFinance = [ — a second query.
SELECT Id, Name FROM Account — the fields and object.
WHERE Industry = 'Technology' OR Industry = 'Finance' — OR requires just one — both work exactly like Module 6's logical operators.
]; — closes the query.

Partial matching with LIKE

List<Account> matches = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name LIKE 'Acme%'];

List<Account> matches = [SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name LIKE 'Acme%']; — LIKE matches partial text — % is a wildcard standing in for any sequence of characters, so 'Acme%' matches "Acme Logistics," "Acme Corp," and anything else starting with "Acme." This is the SOQL equivalent of a "starts with" or "contains" check.

Exercise

Write a query selecting Id and Name from Contact where LastName starts with 'D' and MailingCity equals 'Cape Town'.

Show hint

WHERE LastName LIKE 'D%' AND MailingCity = 'Cape Town'

Salesforce: ○ Not connected Connect

APEX

Execution Results

Run your code to see the result.

Filtering with WHERE Quiz

1. What does the % wildcard do inside a LIKE clause?

Matches any sequence of characters in that position Matches exactly one character Escapes a special character Marks the field as required

My Notes

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Summary

WHERE narrows a query down to only the records that matter — using comparison and logical operators that will feel very familiar from Modules 4 and 6.

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