Is there a way to join using contains

[lliberm01]

I have a file i would like to append columns to if it contains certain words that match.  Is this possible to do using the main dataset and a separate file with a column of those matching "contains" criteria?  If not, what is the best workaround for this other than a ton of nested filters to get to each scenario individually.

[alexnajm · Accepted solution]

It is not possible with the Join tool - you’ll have to look at the Find Replace tool matching to “Any Part of Field”.

You could also do Fuzzy Match, but I wouldn’t go down that route unless necessary!

[Qiu]

@lliberm01 
Another possible is to join the two data streams with Append tool then can use the Formula tool to "contains" criteria if your data is not so big.

[aatalai]

@lliberm01 you could filter out the rows of data you don't want with the following condition 

If contains([field],"criteria"] then "T" else "F" endif

and then use the join tool. Hope this helps