Declarative JDOQL : Query query = pm.newQuery(mydomain.Product.class); query.setFilter(":tradeName.startsWith(this.abbreviation)"); List results = (List)query.execute("Workbook Advanced"); Single-String JDOQL : Query query = pm.newQuery( "SELECT FROM mydomain.Product " + "WHERE :tradeName.startsWith(this.abbreviation)"); List results = (List)query.execute("Workbook Advanced");