February 3, 2012 at 3:06 pm
I have a large database and I want to determine how many tables have a specific column with a specific value in it.
Is there an easy way to do this? Finding the columns is easy, the value not so much.
When the snows fall and the white winds blow,The lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
Once you've accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.
February 7, 2012 at 2:34 pm
A quick'n'dirty 2 stage solution:
(1)
This gives you the table names that contain the column
select distinct sys.tables.name from sys.tables, sys.columns
where sys.tables.type = 'u'
and sys.tables.name not like 'sys%'
and sys.tables.object_id = sys.columns.object_id
and sys.columns.name like 'MyColumnName%'
(2)
Then poke the results of that into the comma-seperated list of tables here,
paying close attention to the nested single quotes.:
sys.sp_MSforeachtable
@command1 = 'Select top 1 MyColumn from ? where MyColumn = ''MyValue''',
@whereand = 'and O.name in (''MyTable1'', ''MyTable2'', ''MyTable3''...)'
Output the results of that as text, then count the instances of MyValue in the resultant text.
Probably dirtier than it is quick, but should yield the desired results
A little more work would probably reduce this to a more elegant single stage
-MarkO
"You do not really understand something until you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
February 7, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Here is an old cursor based solution I wrote for just this sort of thing. Keep in mind this is NOT fast. Do NOT run this (or the previous one) on a production box.
declare @table_name varchar(2000)
declare @sSQL nvarchar(4000)
declare @result varchar(20)
declare @column_name varchar(2000)
declare @SearchVal varchar(200)
set @SearchVal = '%your search val here%'
declare @ColName varchar (250)
set @ColName = '%use this if you want to limit to a naming convention on the columns to search (i.e. email)%'
declare SearchList cursor for
select distinct so.name,sc.name from syscolumns sc
inner join sysobjects so on sc.id = so.id
where sc.name like @ColName
and so.type = 'U'
open SearchList
fetch next from SearchList into @table_name, @column_name
while(@@fetch_status = 0)
begin
select @sSQL = 'if exists (select ''' + @table_name + ''' as TableName,' + @column_name + ' from ' + @table_name + ' where ' + @column_name + ' like ''' + @SearchVal + ''') select ''' + @table_name + ''' as TableName,' + @column_name + ' from ' + @table_name + ' where ' + @column_name + ' like ''' + @SearchVal + ''''
exec sp_executesql @sSQL
--select @ssql
fetch next from SearchList into @table_name, @column_name
end
close SearchList
deallocate SearchList
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Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
February 7, 2012 at 2:58 pm
And here is another one that Lowell wrote (same caveats about production ;-)):
CREATE PROCEDURE sp_UGLYSEARCH
/*
--Purpose: to search every string column in a databasefor a specific word
--returns sql statement as a string which idnetifies the matching table
-- or when the optional parameter is used, the sql statement for the specific matching column.
--usage:
-- EXEC sp_UGLYSEARCH 'Provisional'
-- EXEC sp_UGLYSEARCH 'TEST'
-- creates one SQL for each table that actually has a match for the searched value i.e.
-- SELECT * FROM [ACACTSCR] WHERE [DESCRIP] LIKE '%TEST%' OR [TITLE] LIKE '%TEST%'
--optional parameter SEARCHBYCOLUMN
-- EXEC sp_UGLYSEARCH 'TEST',1
-- creates one SQL for each Column that actually has a match for the searched value i.e.
-- SELECT * FROM [dbo].[ACACTSCR] WHERE [DESCRIP] LIKE '%TEST%'
-- SELECT * FROM [dbo].[ACACTSCR] WHERE [TITLE] LIKE '%TEST%'
*/
@SEARCHSTRING VARCHAR(50),
@SEARCHBYCOLUMN INT = 0
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(max),
@SCHEMANAME VARCHAR(100),
@TABLENAME VARCHAR(100),
@COLUMNNAME VARCHAR(100),
@COLZ VARCHAR(max)
CREATE TABLE #RESULTS(SCHEMANAME VARCHAR(100), TBLNAME VARCHAR(100),COLNAME VARCHAR(100),SQL VARCHAR(max))
SELECT
SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id) AS SCHEMANAME,
objz.name AS TBLNAME,
colz.name AS COLNAME,
TYPE_NAME(colz.user_type_id) AS DATATYPE
INTO #TEMP
FROM sys.objects objz
INNER JOIN sys.columns colz ON objz.object_id = colz.object_id
WHERE objz.type='U'
AND TYPE_NAME(colz.user_type_id) IN ('VARCHAR','NVARCHAR','CHAR','NCHAR')
AND colz.max_length >= LEN(@SEARCHSTRING) --smart: don't search varchar(1) columns for 'TEST' 4xmpl
ORDER BY TBLNAME,COLNAME
IF @SEARCHBYCOLUMN = 0
BEGIN
DECLARE C1 CURSOR FOR
SELECT SCHEMANAME,TBLNAME,COLNAME FROM #TEMP ORDER BY SCHEMANAME,TBLNAME,COLNAME
OPEN C1
FETCH NEXT FROM C1 INTO @SCHEMANAME,@TABLENAME,@COLUMNNAME
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS <> -1
BEGIN
SET @COLZ=''
SELECT @COLZ = @COLZ + QUOTENAME(COLNAME) + ' LIKE ''%' + @SEARCHSTRING + '%'' OR ' FROM #TEMP WHERE TBLNAME=@TABLENAME
--@COLZ has a trailing 'OR ' which must be removed
SET @COLZ = SUBSTRING(@COLZ,1,LEN(@COLZ) -3)
--PRINT @COLZ
SET @SQL = 'IF EXISTS(SELECT * FROM ' + QUOTENAME(@SCHEMANAME) + '.' + QUOTENAME(@TABLENAME) + ' WHERE ' + @COLZ + ') INSERT INTO #RESULTS(TBLNAME,COLNAME,SQL) VALUES(''' + @TABLENAME + ''',''-'','' SELECT * FROM ' + QUOTENAME(@TABLENAME) + ' WHERE ' + REPLACE(@COLZ,'''','''''') + ''') ;'
--PRINT @SQL
EXEC (@SQL)
FETCH NEXT FROM C1 INTO @SCHEMANAME,@TABLENAME,@COLUMNNAME
END
CLOSE C1
DEALLOCATE C1
END
ELSE --@SEARCHBYCOLUMN <> 0
BEGIN
DECLARE C2 CURSOR FOR
SELECT SCHEMANAME,TBLNAME,COLNAME FROM #TEMP ORDER BY SCHEMANAME,TBLNAME,COLNAME
OPEN C2
FETCH NEXT FROM C2 INTO @SCHEMANAME,@TABLENAME,@COLUMNNAME
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS <> -1
BEGIN
SET @SQL = 'IF EXISTS(SELECT * FROM ' + QUOTENAME(@SCHEMANAME) + '.' + QUOTENAME(@TABLENAME) + ' WHERE ' + QUOTENAME(@COLUMNNAME) + ' LIKE ''%' + @SEARCHSTRING + '%'')
INSERT INTO #RESULTS(SCHEMANAME,TBLNAME,COLNAME,SQL) VALUES(''' + @SCHEMANAME + ''',''' + @TABLENAME + ''',''' + @COLUMNNAME + ''',''
SELECT * FROM ' + QUOTENAME(@SCHEMANAME) + '.' + QUOTENAME(@TABLENAME) + ' WHERE ' + QUOTENAME(@COLUMNNAME) + ' LIKE ''''%' + @SEARCHSTRING + '%'''' '') ;'
PRINT @SQL
EXEC (@SQL)
FETCH NEXT FROM C2 INTO @SCHEMANAME,@TABLENAME,@COLUMNNAME
END
CLOSE C2
DEALLOCATE C2
END --@SEARCHBYCOLUMN <> 0
SELECT * FROM #RESULTS ORDER BY TBLNAME,COLNAME
END --PROC
GO
SELECT * FROM #RESULTS ORDER BY TBLNAME,COLNAME
END --PROC
GO
_______________________________________________________________
Need help? Help us help you.
Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.
Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/
February 7, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Thank you! Glad brilliant peoples still troll this website.
When the snows fall and the white winds blow,The lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
Once you've accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.
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