I need to implement a method that takes an address split up into individual parts and returns any matching items from an address table. If no matches are found, I want to be able to return a value indicating where it failed. Each input param has a corresponding field in the table. The signature would look something like this: List<Address> MatchAddress(string zipCode, string streetName, string houseNumber, string houseLetter, string floor, string appartmentNo, out int mismatchPosition) { // return matching addresses // if none found, return the position where it stopped matching // zipCode is position 0, appartmentNo is position 5 // // an empty param value indicates "don't check" } I know I can construct the method such that I start with all the parameters, execute the query and then remove param by param (from the right side) until either a match is found or I run out of parameters, but can I construct a query that is more effective than that, i.e minimizing the number of calls to the db, maybe even as a single call?