Escaping percent characters when calling String.Format?

My strings.xml file holds a SQL query, and I'm trying to construct the finished string in code with String.Format. The SELECT query contains a like clause along these lines:

SELECT ColumnA, ColumnB FROM records WHERE ColumnA LIKE '%pattern%'

For formatting, I substitute %1$s for 'pattern', giving me:

SELECT ColumnA, ColumnB FROM records WHERE ColumnA LIKE \'%%1$s%\'

Backslashes let me escape the single quotes. The % character, however, is something I haven't managed to escape.

What is the way to put a like clause into strings.xml?

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Follow the reasoning

imke27 Aug Permalink
Escaping % requires writing that same character twice, as %%.
jdv21 Oct Permalink
Adding to the solution already given, try this:
```
query = query.replace("%", "%%");
```
Jae10 hours ago Permalink
This regex replacement is more robust because it leaves existing doubled %% sequences in the input alone.
```
query = query.replaceAll("(?:[^%]|\\A)%(?:[^%]|\\z)", "%%");
```

Escaping percent characters when calling String.Format?

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Other sides of the same question

NAK only when the message has a degree sign (serial, Emacs)

Formatting strings with F#

Truncating by bytes like the old C++, and Rust panics