string formatting using the % operator

[William Gill]

I am using the % operator to create queries for a db app.  It works fine 
when exact strings, or numbers are used, but some queries need partial 
matching that use the '%' as a wildcards. So for example the resultant 
string should be 'WHERE name LIKE %smith%'  (would match silversmith, 
smithy, and smith).  Is there any way to get something like

       searchterm = 'smith'
       sql += 'WHERE name LIKE %s'  %  searchterm

to return 'WHERE name LIKE %smith%'    I have tried using escapes, 
character codes for the % sign, and lots of other gyrations with no 
success.  The only thing that works is if I modify searchterm first:

       searchterm = 'smith'
       searchterm ='%'+'smith'+'%'
       sql += 'WHERE name LIKE %s'  %  searchterm

Any Ideas?

Thanks,
Bill