Searching case-insensitively

I have a problem which I wonder if anyone can help me with - I have the feeling the answer is quite simple.

I have a table with two fields, 'ID' and 'name' with maybe 2 million records, and I want to conduct a search on the contents of the 'name' field. This field can contain any alphanumeric string, often with a mixture of upper and lower case characters. What is the best way to search this table case-insensitively?

Two related issues which perhaps someone can also answer;

Is there a SET option or similar switch to make case-insensitive searches the default?

Does the construct 'WHERE UPPER(search_term) = UPPER(name);' prevent the search from using indices?

Thanks for your time; if you answer please email me a copy, the number of messages on this group is too great for me to always spot replies.

Simon

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Dr. Simon Mercer                        
The Reference Library Database
+49 30 8413 1395 (fax)
mailto:mercer_at_mpimg-berlin-dahlem.mpg.de