Question: So I have a column in one table (statename) that looks like this:
TBLOTHER(statename)

* Hidalgo Federal Hwy 130
* Mexico Federal Hwy 130
* Puebla Federal Hwy 130
* Veracruz-Llave Federal Hwy 130

and another column in a different table where there is no Federal Highway numbers, just the state names 
TBLSTATE(name)

* Hidalgo
* Mexico
* Puebla
* Veracruz-Llave

How can I compare the column in tblstate(name) to tblother(name)? I want to copy over the values of a different column in TBLSTATE over to the TBLOTHER based on the name being the same..thanks

Answer: 
Interesting. I would take a different approach

```
where substr(tblother.statename, 1, len(tblstate.name)) = tblstate.name

```

That is, compare the two strings up to the length of the actual state name.
If the data in `TBLOTHER` is as regular as it is here, my guess is that it would be safest to strip off the `Federal Hwy' bit and then compare, i.e.

```
where tblstate.name = substr( tblother.statename, 
                              1, 
                              instr( tblother.statename, 'Federal Hwy' ) - 1 )

```

That's a bit more work than just doing a straight `LIKE` but it helps if you can possibly have names like 'Puebla' and `Puebla-Foo` where one contains the other.