Search text in fields in every table of a MySQL database

Question

I want to search in all fields from all tables of a MySQL database a given string, possibly using syntax as:

SELECT * FROM * WHERE * LIKE \'%stuff%\'
         


        

Answer 1

You can peek into the information_schema schema. It has a list of all tables and all fields that are in a table. You can then run queries using the information that you have gotten from this table.

The tables involved are SCHEMATA, TABLES and COLUMNS. There are foreign keys such that you can build up exactly how the tables are created in a schema.