Ben,
> So the question is, how do I perform a case insensitive search? Is there a
> DB setting I can set to ignore the case?
To the latter: No.
To the former, there are four ways that you can do a case-insensitive search
in PostgreSQL:
1) Using ILIKE: SELECT * FROM sometable WHERE textfield ILIKE 'value%';
2) Using Regexp operators (see Functions and Operators in the docs):
SELECT * FROM sometable WHERE textfield ~* 'value';
3) Using UPPER() or LOWER() to change the case of the field before comparison;
this approach can be better than 1) or 2) because these functions may be
indexed, and thus if you are doing a "begins with" or "exact match" search
your query may be indexed:
SELECT * FROM sometable WHERE UPPER(textfield) LIKE (UPPER('value') || '%');
4) If most of your searches are "anywhere in field" searches on large text
fields, I'd reccomend a look at the two "full text search" tools available in
PostgreSQL, one in the /contrib of your source, the second from openFTS.org.
Overally, I would strongly recommend that you buy and read an introcductory
PostgreSQL book before proceeding further with your project.
--
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco
