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RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

regeter — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:14:20 GMT

I created this query for the same purpose:[url=http://fullparam.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/fck-it-i-am-going-to-search-all-tables-all-collumns][/url]

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

ken.trock — Wed, 25 May 2011 08:43:15 GMT

Yes, thanks to Michael and others for this. Helped me quickly find an errant value in a field during a very large insert that failed.Ken

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

Hardy21 — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:18:35 GMT

Thanks @Adam Gojdas & Author.It helps me to solve one issue.

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

PaulCBTech — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:00:34 GMT

the only thing i'd like to mention is regarding the convert in the where clause. if you don't specify the length when you convert the current search column to varchar it, by default, will truncate the column value to a length of 30. it will also trim trailing spaces, so it would really only search the first 30 characters of the current column. see my example below:[code="sql"]DECLARE @Value varchar(100)='12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890'SELECT @Value, LEN(@Value), LEN(CAST(@Value AS varchar)), LEN(CONVERT(varchar, @Value)), LEN(CAST(@Value AS varchar(1000))), LEN(CONVERT(varchar(1000), @Value))SET @Value=REPLACE(@Value, '0',' ')SELECT @Value, LEN(@Value), LEN(CAST(@Value AS varchar)), LEN(CONVERT(varchar, @Value)), LEN(CAST(@Value AS varchar(1000))), LEN(CONVERT(varchar(1000), @Value))[/code]

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

Adam Gojdas — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:49:46 GMT

A few years back I needed to search for data in some DBs I wasn't familiar with. So I created a quick and dirty script to do this. I put together a few versions of it, one for string/character based stuff, another for numerics and so on as needed. Here is what I did for searching for strings. I used dynamic sql to put together the queries and opted to PRINT them out rather than select them to rows so there are a few tricks I needed to use to implement this. It does still have some bugs (like field type of text isn't implemented) I haven't worked out but thought I would present it as one way of doing this sort of thing.[code="sql"]--Script to look for varchar data in tables --Run this replacing the value in @dataLookingFor with the exact string you are looking for--check the Messages tab for info on what tables have the stringDECLARE @staticSql nvarchar(max) ,@dynamicSql nvarchar(max) ,@combinedSql nvarchar(max) ,@dataLookingFor varchar(100) ,@parmDefinition nvarchar(100) ,@dateStart datetime ,@dateEnd datetime ,@dateTot datetime ,@print varchar(100) ; SELECT @dateStart = GETDATE() SET @dataLookingFor = 'SomeString'; SET @parmDefinition = N'@data varchar(100)'; --change to size/type needed SELECT @dynamicSql = theSql.value('/row[1]/column_alias[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') FROM ( SELECT column_alias FROM ( SELECT N'IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM ' + N'dbo.[' + C.TABLE_NAME + N']' + N' WHERE [' + C.COLUMN_NAME + N'] = @data) BEGIN ' + N' SELECT @cnt = CAST(COUNT(*) AS varchar(20)) FROM ' + N'dbo.[' + C.TABLE_NAME + N']'+ N' WHERE [' + C.COLUMN_NAME + N'] = @data;' + N' RAISERROR (''' + C.TABLE_NAME + '.' + C.COLUMN_NAME + N' has data - %d times'', 0, 1, @cnt) WITH NOWAIT;' + N' END' + N';' FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS C INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES T ON C.TABLE_CATALOG = T.TABLE_CATALOG AND C.TABLE_SCHEMA = T.TABLE_SCHEMA AND C.TABLE_NAME = T.TABLE_NAME WHERE T.TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE' --add tables and column types that you don't want to check (columns should remain as is since they are not string data)-- AND T.TABLE_NAME NOT IN ('???') AND C.DATA_TYPE NOT IN ( 'bigint' ,'decimal' ,'int' ,'numeric' ,'smallint' ,'money' ,'tinyint' ,'smallmoney' ,'bit' ,'float' ,'real' ,'datetime' ,'smalldatetime' ,'binary' ,'image' ,'varbinary' ,'cursor' ,'timestamp' ,'sql_variant' ,'uniqueidentifier' ,'table' ,'xml' --got this type below ,'text' --need to implement this? ) FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE ) tab_alias (column_alias) FOR XML RAW, TYPE ) tab_alias2 (theSql) SELECT @dateEnd = GETDATE() SELECT @dateTot = @dateEnd - @dateStart SELECT @print = 'Time elapsed for running create query: ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(20),@dateTot,114) --note that @cnt has to be create before the above query can use it in the query --so we concatenate @staticSql with @dynamicSql SET @staticSql = N' DECLARE @cnt int;' + N' RAISERROR (''Data being checked for - %s'', 0, 1, @data) WITH NOWAIT;' + N' RAISERROR ('''', 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;' SET @combinedSql = @staticSql + N' ' + @dynamicSql-- PRINT @combinedSql SELECT @dateStart = GETDATE() EXEC sp_executesql @combinedSql ,@parmDefinition ,@data=@dataLookingFor ; SELECT @dateEnd = GETDATE() PRINT '' PRINT @print SELECT @dateTot = @dateEnd - @dateStart SELECT @print = 'Time elapsed for running query: ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(20),@dateTot,114) PRINT @print--look in the XML now SELECT @dateStart = GETDATE() SELECT @dynamicSql = theSql.value('/row[1]/column_alias[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') FROM ( SELECT column_alias FROM ( SELECT N'IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM ' + N'dbo.[' + C.TABLE_NAME + N']' + N' WHERE CAST([' + C.COLUMN_NAME + N'] AS varchar(max)) LIKE ''%' + @dataLookingFor + '%'') BEGIN ' + N' SELECT @cnt = CAST(COUNT(*) AS varchar(20)) FROM ' + N'dbo.[' + C.TABLE_NAME + N']'+ N' WHERE CAST([' + C.COLUMN_NAME + N'] AS varchar(max)) LIKE ''%' + @dataLookingFor + '%'';' + N' RAISERROR (''' + C.TABLE_NAME + '.' + C.COLUMN_NAME + N' has data - %d times'', 0, 1, @cnt) WITH NOWAIT;' + N' END' + N';' FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS C INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES T ON C.TABLE_CATALOG = T.TABLE_CATALOG AND C.TABLE_SCHEMA = T.TABLE_SCHEMA AND C.TABLE_NAME = T.TABLE_NAME WHERE T.TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE' --add tables and column types that you don't want to check (columns should remain as is since they are not string data)-- AND T.TABLE_NAME NOT IN ('???') AND C.DATA_TYPE ='xml' FOR XML PATH(''), TYPE ) tab_alias (column_alias) FOR XML RAW, TYPE ) tab_alias2 (theSql) SELECT @dateEnd = GETDATE() SELECT @dateTot = @dateEnd - @dateStart SELECT @print = 'Time elapsed for running create query: ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(20),@dateTot,114) --note that @cnt has to be create before the above query can use it in the query --so we concatenate @staticSql with @dynamicSql SET @staticSql = N' DECLARE @cnt int;' + N' RAISERROR (''Data being checked for - %s'', 0, 1, @data) WITH NOWAIT;' + N' RAISERROR ('''', 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;' SET @combinedSql = @staticSql + N' ' + @dynamicSql-- PRINT @combinedSql SELECT @dateStart = GETDATE() EXEC sp_executesql @combinedSql ,@parmDefinition ,@data=@dataLookingFor ; SELECT @dateEnd = GETDATE() PRINT '' PRINT @print SELECT @dateTot = @dateEnd - @dateStart SELECT @print = 'Time elapsed for running query: ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(20),@dateTot,114) PRINT @print[/code]

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

GabyYYZ — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:12:31 GMT

[quote][b]Timothy Graffham (1/25/2010)[/b][hr]You might consider removing the wildcards from the dynamic sql and allow them to be specified in the search string. That way, you could explicitly specify left based LIKE statements that would allow you to take advantage of indexes on some fields. That would certainly speed up *some* of the tests. But basically, by it's very nature, you're doing a massive amount of text based searching here so the larger the date sets, the longer the result time.This seems like a pretty cool script for those one-off "I wonder" kind of tests where you don't mind waiting a bit, but if you're implementing something business critical (like the credit card pattern checking example), you'll probably want to be a little more specific about what fields your testing in what tables. No doubt your application doesn't allow updating of most fields through whatever the interface is except certain textual fields. Focus on scanning only those and you'll get better results. No need to be testing date fields for possible entry of credit card numbers, right?Tim[/quote]Definitely, restrict to char/varchar/nvarchar/(text?)

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

Timothy Graffham — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:06:33 GMT

You might consider removing the wildcards from the dynamic sql and allow them to be specified in the search string. That way, you could explicitly specify left based LIKE statements that would allow you to take advantage of indexes on some fields. That would certainly speed up *some* of the tests. But basically, by it's very nature, you're doing a massive amount of text based searching here so the larger the date sets, the longer the result time.This seems like a pretty cool script for those one-off "I wonder" kind of tests where you don't mind waiting a bit, but if you're implementing something business critical (like the credit card pattern checking example), you'll probably want to be a little more specific about what fields your testing in what tables. No doubt your application doesn't allow updating of most fields through whatever the interface is except certain textual fields. Focus on scanning only those and you'll get better results. No need to be testing date fields for possible entry of credit card numbers, right?Tim

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

Kuido Külm — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:49:25 GMT

No, it will not run efficiently, because there is CAST() and LIKE %search% operations in conditions which will not able to use indexes[quote][b]GabyYYZ (1/25/2010)[/b][hr]I have a colleague working on a side project to search all columns for any errant information that looks like a credit card and I was wondering if there are performance issues involved with this script? He's going about the concept of creating "dynamic" stored procedures as they run faster, but still trying to optimize it. Will this script work efficiently for truly massive amounts of data?[/quote]

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

GabyYYZ — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:36:39 GMT

I have a colleague working on a side project to search all columns for any errant information that looks like a credit card and I was wondering if there are performance issues involved with this script? He's going about the concept of creating "dynamic" stored procedures as they run faster, but still trying to optimize it. Will this script work efficiently for truly massive amounts of data?

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

randal.schmidt — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:47:15 GMT

I keep getting errors related to a view:Msg 207, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Invalid column name 'Short Name'.Msg 4413, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Could not use view or function 'dbo.assets_in_supportworks_not_in_dynamics' because of binding errors.Msg 207, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Invalid column name 'Short Name'.Msg 4413, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Could not use view or function 'dbo.assets_in_supportworks_not_in_dynamics' because of binding errors.Msg 207, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Msg 208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Invalid object name 'dbo.tq_config_temp1'.Msg 4413, Level 16, State 1, Line 1Could not use view or function 'dbo.Missing ME Relationships' because of binding errors.Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1Incorrect syntax near ''.Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1Incorrect syntax near ''.Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1Incorrect syntax near ''.Is there a way I can get it to ignore errors?

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

michael_davis2 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:47:02 GMT

Thanks for the feedback Kevin - that data type should have been included.I replicated the error (by creating a table with a GUID) and then modified the section that limits the types...all worked for me.replace:[b]select table_name, table_schema, column_name from information_schema.columns where data_type not in ('image','text','timestamp')[/b]with: [b]select table_name, table_schema, column_name from information_schema.columns where data_type not in ('image','text','timestamp','uniqueidentifier')[/b]I'll update the script on the article. I also like the above comment to limit the field search based on the column size. No use looking in a two character field to see if a 5 character string exists!!! That is the great part about a forum like this -- many people will suggest improvements. Also, to anyone else out there I am aware of the ms_forEachTable procedure but decided to write the script as shown.

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

Kevin_1 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:37:00 GMT

First of all, thank you for the query. If I can get it to run, it will definitely be a very handy tool.Unfortunately, I am receiving the following error: Msg 8170, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 Insufficient result space to convert uniqueidentifier value to char.I tried adding "uniqueidentifier" to the "...data_type not in..." clause of the statement (after all, we certainly do not need to search those fields), but I still receive the same results.Any ideas?Thanks.

RE: Search all columns in every table for a value

Kuido Külm — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:38:09 GMT

One good idea is only search from columns which column length isgreather than @searchValue lengthset nocount on--initial declarationsdeclare @rowID INT, @maxRowID INTdeclare @sql NVARCHAR(4000)declare @statements TABLE (rowID INT, SQLL NVARCHAR(MAX) COLLATE DATABASE_DEFAULT)CREATE TABLE #results (tableName NVARCHAR(250) COLLATE DATABASE_DEFAULT, tableSchema NVARCHAR(250) COLLATE DATABASE_DEFAULT , columnName NVARCHAR(250) COLLATE DATABASE_DEFAULT, foundtext NVARCHAR(MAX) COLLATE DATABASE_DEFAULT )SET @rowID = 1declare @searchValue NVARCHAR(100)SET @searchValue = 'text to find'DECLARE @pikkus INTSET @pikkus=LEN(@searchValue)--TEXT 35--NTEXT 99 --VARCHAR 167--CHAR 175--NVARCHAR, SYSNAME 231--NCHAR 239 --XML 241 --create CTE table holding metadata;WITH MyInfo (tableName, tableSchema, columnName, XTYPE) AS ( SELECT sysobjects.name AS tableName, USER_NAME(sysobjects.uid) AS tableSchema , syscolumns.name AS columnName, syscolumns.XTYPE FROM sysobjects WITH(NOLOCK) INNER JOIN syscolumns WITH(NOLOCK) ON (sysobjects.id = syscolumns.id) WHERE sysobjects.xtype = 'U' AND sysobjects.category=0 AND sysobjects.name <> 'sysdiagrams' --MSSQL diagrams AND syscolumns.XTYPE IN (35,99,167,175,231,239,214) AND syscolumns.prec >= @pikkus ) --create search stringsINSERT INTO @statementsSELECT row_number() over (order by tableName, columnName) AS rowID, 'INSERT INTO #results SELECT '''+tableName+''', '''+tableSchema+''', '''+columnName+''', CAST('+columnName+' AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) FROM ['+tableSchema+'].['+tableName+'] WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE '+CASE WHEN myInfo.XTYPE=241 --XMLTHEN +'CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),['+columnName+'])'ELSE '['+columnName+']'END+' LIKE ''%'+@searchValue+'%''' FROM myInfo--select * from @statements--initialize while components and process search stringsSET @maxRowID = ( SELECT MAX(rowID) FROM @statements )WHILE @rowID <= @maxRowID BEGIN SET @sql = (SELECT sqll FROM @statements WHERE rowID = @rowID ) EXEC sp_executeSQL @sql SET @rowID = @rowID + 1 END--view results and cleanupSELECT * FROM #resultsdrop table #results

Search all columns in every table for a value

michael_davis2 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:44:08 GMT

Comments posted to this topic are about the item [B]Search all columns in every table for a value[/B]