FREETEXT (T-SQL)

Is a predicate used to search columns containing character-based data types for values that match the meaning and not the exact wording of the words in the search condition. When FREETEXT is used, the full-text query engine internally “word-breaks” the freetext_string into a number of search terms and assigns each term a weight and then finds the matches.

Syntax

FREETEXT
    (
        {column | * }, 'freetext_string'
    )

Arguments

column

Is the name of a specific column that has been registered for full-text searching. Columns of the character string data types are valid columns for full-text searching.

*

Specifies that all columns that have been registered for full-text searching should be used to search for the given freetext_string.

freetext_string

Is some text to search for in the specified column. Any text, including words, phrases or sentences, can be entered; there is no concern about syntax. However, variables cannot be used.

Remarks

Full-text queries using FREETEXT are less precise than those full-text queries using CONTAINS. The Microsoft® SQL Server™ full-text search engine identifies important words and phrases. No special meaning is given to any of the reserved keywords or wildcard characters that typically have meaning when specified in the <contains_search_condition> parameter of the CONTAINS predicate.

FREETEXT is not recognized as a keyword if the compatibility level is less than 70. For more information, see sp_dbcmptlevel.

Examples

This example searches for all product categories containing the words related to bread, candy, dry, and meat in the product description, such as breads, candies, dried, and meats.

USE Northwind

GO

SELECT CategoryName

FROM Categories

WHERE FREETEXT (Description, 'sweetest candy bread and dry meat' )

GO

See Also