I could provide an advanced search, and ask the user what kind of info he wants to retrieve but I first would like a quickSearch that may retrieve too much info but is more intuitive.
As I said, my first idea was to create a script to go through all my tables and scan the relevant columns (I don't want to scan the id keys for example), but I was just wondering if given a table it is possible to use mysql to scan all its columns:
*************************** 1. row ***************************
Table: dbLab
Create Table: CREATE TABLE `dbLab` (
`labId` tinyint(5) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`name` varchar(50) NOT NULL default '',
`fullName` varchar(250) default NULL,
`adress` varchar(150) NOT NULL default '',
`city` varchar(50) NOT NULL default '',
`country` varchar(50) NOT NULL default '',
`url` varchar(100) NOT NULL default '',
PRIMARY KEY (`labId`)
) TYPE=MyISAM COMMENT='list of partners'
1 row in set (0.00 sec)
If I search for "Smith" I want to retrieve the name Smith, the fullname Smith, the address or city containing Smith....basically look for the word in all the columns, a shortener for select * from dbLab where name like'%Smith%' or fullName like '%Smith%' or adress like '%Smith%'.....
But maybe this is not a good way to do things?
Melanie
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "mel list_php" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED],mysql@lists.mysql.com Subject: Re: search through one/several tables Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 09:55:23 -0500
"mel list_php" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on 03/23/2005 06:00:08 AM:
> Unfortunatly they are not, I have something like 30 tables, with I would say > 10 to 15 fields per table. > The number of row per table is quite low, i think it won't exceed > 500-1000/table. But I may sometimes have to search into dna sequences > (around 5000 atcg characters in any order), so that is quite heavy. Maybe > for that field a fulltext index would be helpful? > > Thanks for your help, > Melanie > > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >CC: mysql@lists.mysql.com > >Subject: Re: search through one/several tables > >Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 10:44:53 +0000 > > > >"mel list_php" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on 23/03/2005 10:14:07: > > > > > Hi list, > > > > > > I would like to search for something into one or several tables. > > > My first idea was to retrieve the tables' names, then for each of them > > > retrieve the columns' name and have a look in each of this column. > > > Is there a more elegant (fast) way to do that with mysql? > > > > > > Somebody has some tips/doc where I could look for search engines?My > >problem > > > is that I don't have one big table with all the data but several little > >ones > > > with few fields, so I don't think solutions like Lucene could work. > > > >If your tables are all identical, which it sounds like, you want to create > >a Merge Table: see > >http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/merge-storage-engine.html > > > > Alec > > > >-- > >MySQL General Mailing List > >For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql > >To unsubscribe: > >http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Express yourself with cool new emoticons http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/myemo > > > -- > MySQL General Mailing List > For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql > To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
I agree in priciple with Alec. Good database design can and should promote good data retreival. However, it sounds from your original question that you need to find all records on any table with some bit of information in any column. That problem is just too generic to provide specific help for. If you can't find certain pieces of data, it _may_ be that you haven't organized your data to the point that there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. There is always (except for the most trivial cases) more than one way to organize any set of data, however different schemas offer different advantages (size, speed, ease of use, etc). Which one will work best for you depends on the nature of your data, your database server's limitations (hardware, software, and operating system limits), and what you need to get from the data once it's organized. Some schemas make it harder to add or update data but make finding it a breeze; others are just the opposite. This sounds like a good time to honestly review your current schema to make sure it's going to meet your usage needs not just your data storage requirements. Ask the people who need to use the data you are storing what they need to find and adjust your schemas to fit. Sometimes it means asking them to look by using a different method as a compromise (you give a little, they give a little). Eventually you can work it out.
If you have a schema design issue or if you have a more specific set of tables (please post their SHOW CREATE TABLE... results) and a sample query that you cannot solve (even if it's only a description of what you need to find), I am sure the list will be happy to help. Many of us really enjoy those kinds of puzzles.
Shawn Green Database Administrator Unimin Corporation - Spruce Pine
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