QoQ LIKE operator is case-insensitive, breaking CF11 compatibility

dev
1

Type: Bug

Affects version: Lucee 7.0.1.100

Description:

In Adobe ColdFusion 11, the LIKE operator in Query of Queries (QoQ) is case-sensitive. In Lucee 7, it is case-insensitive. This is a breaking change for any codebase migrating from CF11 to Lucee, and there is no global configuration option to restore the original behavior.

Steps to reproduce:

<cfset q = queryNew("col", "varchar", [
    ["Modica"],
    ["MOD-test"]
])>

<cfquery name="result" dbtype="query">
    SELECT * FROM q
    WHERE col NOT LIKE '%MOD%'
</cfquery>

<cfdump var="#result#">

Expected behavior (CF11): The query returns Modica because the LIKE is case-sensitive — Modica does not contain the uppercase string MOD.

Actual behavior (Lucee 7): The query returns no results because Lucee treats LIKE as case-insensitive — Modica is matched against MOD and excluded.

Impact: This affects any application that intentionally uses uppercase patterns in LIKE / NOT LIKE conditions to distinguish between technical node codes (e.g. MOD, TAB, ACC) and real data values (e.g. Modica, Tabarca). There is no workaround that does not require modifying potentially thousands of files across hundreds of sites.

Request: Please either fix the QoQ engine to be case-sensitive by default (matching CF11 behavior), or provide a global configuration option (environment variable, JVM property, or Application.cfc setting) to control this behavior.

Thanks in advance
Stefano

2

Did some checking, turns out it’s not just LIKE, ACF 2025 is always case sensitive with all QoQ stuff

I have something in mind to allow toggling this in 7.1 at the server, application and per query level

https://luceeserver.atlassian.net/browse/LDEV-6151

2 Likes
3

Implemented in 7.1.0.58-SNAPSHOT

BTW it seems ACF switched to being case sensitive in 7

You can now opt into being case sensitive as the default via env var, via application.cfc or per query.

Existing behaviour is unchanged

Docs Query of Queries (QoQ) :: Lucee Documentation

1 Like