diff --git a/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/_components/DynamicVariableModal.svelte b/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/_components/DynamicVariableModal.svelte
index 61d0a1993c..5c0cd0f883 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/_components/DynamicVariableModal.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/_components/DynamicVariableModal.svelte
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 <script>
   import { Input, ModalContent, Modal, Body } from "@budibase/bbui"
+  import { createEventDispatcher } from "svelte"
+
+  const dispatch = createEventDispatcher()
 
   export let dynamicVariables
   export let datasource
@@ -35,6 +38,7 @@
     name = null
     binding = null
     dynamicVariables[copiedName] = copiedBinding
+    dispatch("change", dynamicVariables)
   }
 </script>
 
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/rest/[query]/index.svelte b/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/rest/[query]/index.svelte
index e870c2f6db..d2914146ce 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/rest/[query]/index.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/data/datasource/[selectedDatasource]/rest/[query]/index.svelte
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
   import AccessLevelSelect from "components/integration/AccessLevelSelect.svelte"
   import DynamicVariableModal from "../../_components/DynamicVariableModal.svelte"
   import Placeholder from "assets/bb-spaceship.svg"
-  import { cloneDeep } from "lodash/fp"
+  import { cloneDeep, isEqual } from "lodash/fp"
   import { RawRestBodyTypes } from "constants/backend"
 
   let query, datasource
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
   let response, schema, enabledHeaders
   let authConfigId
   let dynamicVariables, addVariableModal, varBinding
+  let baseQuery, baseDatasource, baseVariables
 
   $: datasourceType = datasource?.source
   $: integrationInfo = $integrations[datasourceType]
@@ -62,6 +63,15 @@
   $: hasSchema =
     Object.keys(schema || {}).length !== 0 ||
     Object.keys(query?.schema || {}).length !== 0
+  $: baseQuery = !baseQuery ? cloneDeep(query) : baseQuery
+  $: baseDatasource = !baseDatasource ? cloneDeep(datasource) : baseDatasource
+  $: baseVariables = !baseVariables
+    ? cloneDeep(dynamicVariables)
+    : baseVariables
+  $: hasChanged =
+    !isEqual(baseQuery, query) ||
+    !isEqual(baseDatasource, datasource) ||
+    !isEqual(baseVariables, dynamicVariables)
 
   function getSelectedQuery() {
     return cloneDeep(
@@ -120,6 +130,9 @@
         datasource.config.dynamicVariables = rebuildVariables(saveId)
         datasource = await datasources.save(datasource)
       }
+      baseQuery = query
+      baseDatasource = datasource
+      baseVariables = dynamicVariables
     } catch (err) {
       notifications.error(`Error saving query`)
     }
@@ -299,6 +312,7 @@
   {dynamicVariables}
   bind:binding={varBinding}
   bind:this={addVariableModal}
+  on:change={saveQuery}
 />
 {#if query && queryConfig}
   <div class="inner">
@@ -332,7 +346,7 @@
           </div>
           <Button primary disabled={!url} on:click={runQuery}>Send</Button>
           <Button
-            disabled={!query.name}
+            disabled={!query.name || !hasChanged}
             cta
             on:click={saveQuery}
             tooltip={!hasSchema
diff --git a/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts b/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts
index 2e14eae870..782f61e49e 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,31 @@ type KnexQuery = Knex.QueryBuilder | Knex
 const MIN_ISO_DATE = "0000-00-00T00:00:00.000Z"
 const MAX_ISO_DATE = "9999-00-00T00:00:00.000Z"
 
+function likeKey(client: string, key: string): string {
+  if (!key.includes(" ")) {
+    return key
+  }
+  let start: string, end: string
+  switch (client) {
+    case SqlClients.MY_SQL:
+      start = end = "`"
+      break
+    case SqlClients.ORACLE:
+    case SqlClients.POSTGRES:
+      start = end = '"'
+      break
+    case SqlClients.MS_SQL:
+      start = "["
+      end = "]"
+      break
+    default:
+      throw "Unknown client"
+  }
+  const parts = key.split(".")
+  key = parts.map(part => `${start}${part}${end}`).join(".")
+  return key
+}
+
 function parse(input: any) {
   if (Array.isArray(input)) {
     return JSON.stringify(input)
@@ -125,7 +150,9 @@ class InternalBuilder {
         } else {
           const rawFnc = `${fnc}Raw`
           // @ts-ignore
-          query = query[rawFnc](`LOWER(${key}) LIKE ?`, [`%${value}%`])
+          query = query[rawFnc](`LOWER(${likeKey(this.client, key)}) LIKE ?`, [
+            `%${value}%`,
+          ])
         }
       })
     }
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/index.js b/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/index.js
index ad4082e3a4..76a4c5d2ca 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/index.js
+++ b/packages/string-templates/src/helpers/index.js
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@ const HTML_SWAPS = {
   ">": "&gt;",
 }
 
+function isObject(value) {
+  if (value == null || typeof value !== "object") {
+    return false
+  }
+  return (
+    value.toString() === "[object Object]" ||
+    (value.length > 0 && typeof value[0] === "object")
+  )
+}
+
 const HELPERS = [
   // external helpers
   new Helper(HelperFunctionNames.OBJECT, value => {
@@ -22,11 +32,7 @@ const HELPERS = [
   new Helper(HelperFunctionNames.JS, processJS, false),
   // this help is applied to all statements
   new Helper(HelperFunctionNames.ALL, (value, { __opts }) => {
-    if (
-      value != null &&
-      typeof value === "object" &&
-      value.toString() === "[object Object]"
-    ) {
+    if (isObject(value)) {
       return new SafeString(JSON.stringify(value))
     }
     // null/undefined values produce bad results
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/src/processors/preprocessor.js b/packages/string-templates/src/processors/preprocessor.js
index 4b296d0fc7..185a3ab38a 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/src/processors/preprocessor.js
+++ b/packages/string-templates/src/processors/preprocessor.js
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ module.exports.processors = [
         return statement
       }
     }
+    const testHelper = possibleHelper.trim().toLowerCase()
     if (
       !noHelpers &&
-      HelperNames().some(option => option.includes(possibleHelper))
+      HelperNames().some(option => testHelper === option.toLowerCase())
     ) {
       insideStatement = `(${insideStatement})`
     }
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js b/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js
index 6c85aa5fa1..8dd1aeb394 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js
+++ b/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js
@@ -106,6 +106,16 @@ describe("Test that the object processing works correctly", () => {
   })
 })
 
+describe("check returning objects", () => {
+  it("should handle an array of objects", async () => {
+    const json = [{a: 1},{a: 2}]
+    const output = await processString("{{ testing }}", {
+      testing: json
+    })
+    expect(output).toEqual(JSON.stringify(json))
+  })
+})
+
 describe("check the utility functions", () => {
   it("should return false for an invalid template string", () => {
     const valid = isValid("{{ table1.thing prop }}")
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/test/escapes.spec.js b/packages/string-templates/test/escapes.spec.js
index b845fddec9..a14e78d2f2 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/test/escapes.spec.js
+++ b/packages/string-templates/test/escapes.spec.js
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ describe("Handling context properties with spaces in their name", () => {
     })
     expect(output).toBe("testcase 1")
   })
+
+  it("should allow the use of a", async () => {
+    const output = await processString("{{ a }}", { a: 1 })
+    expect(output).toEqual("1")
+  })
 })
 
 describe("attempt some complex problems", () => {