I have a search form that allows a users to enter their name.

depending on which part of their name they enter in that field i want to compare it against three different columns in the database.

Eg

Name Cameo Alhassan

table columns

cli_title,
cli_forename,
cli_surname,

i want to do compare the entry in the search form against these fields so
when a user
enters:

only the firstname,
surname,
both
or Mr Cameo alhassan,

it will be found.

How do i do this in criterion api or HQL

Can you be a bit clear.
You can actually use criteria or HQL Quite easily for this checking by checking null values.

but first plz give the exact scenario