Given a number, how do I discover in what table and column it could be found within?
I don't care if it's fast, it just needs to work.
17 Answers
This might help you. - from Narayana Vyas. It searches all columns of all tables in a given database. I have used it before and it works.
This is the Stored Proc from the above link - the only change I made was substituting the temp table for a table variable so you don't have to remember to drop it each time.
CREATE PROC SearchAllTables
(
@SearchStr nvarchar(100)
)
AS
BEGIN
-- Copyright © 2002 Narayana Vyas Kondreddi. All rights reserved.
-- Purpose: To search all columns of all tables for a given search string
-- Written by: Narayana Vyas Kondreddi
-- Site: http://vyaskn.tripod.com
-- Tested on: SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 2000
-- Date modified: 28th July 2002 22:50 GMT
DECLARE @Results TABLE(ColumnName nvarchar(370), ColumnValue nvarchar(3630))
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE @TableName nvarchar(256), @ColumnName nvarchar(128), @SearchStr2 nvarchar(110)
SET @TableName = ''
SET @SearchStr2 = QUOTENAME('%' + @SearchStr + '%','''')
WHILE @TableName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
SET @ColumnName = ''
SET @TableName =
(
SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME))
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
AND QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME) > @TableName
AND OBJECTPROPERTY(
OBJECT_ID(
QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME)
), 'IsMSShipped'
) = 0
)
WHILE (@TableName IS NOT NULL) AND (@ColumnName IS NOT NULL)
BEGIN
SET @ColumnName =
(
SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME))
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = PARSENAME(@TableName, 2)
AND TABLE_NAME = PARSENAME(@TableName, 1)
AND DATA_TYPE IN ('char', 'varchar', 'nchar', 'nvarchar')
AND QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) > @ColumnName
)
IF @ColumnName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
INSERT INTO @Results
EXEC
(
'SELECT ''' + @TableName + '.' + @ColumnName + ''', LEFT(' + @ColumnName + ', 3630)
FROM ' + @TableName +
' WHERE ' + @ColumnName + ' LIKE ' + @SearchStr2
)
END
END
END
SELECT ColumnName, ColumnValue FROM @Results
END
To execute the stored procedure :
EXEC SearchAllTables 'YourStringHere'
Based on bnkdev's answer I modified Narayana's Code to search all columns even numeric ones.
It'll run slower, but this version actually finds all matches not just those found in text columns.
I can't thank this guy enough. Saved me days of searching by hand!
CREATE PROC SearchAllTables
(
@SearchStr nvarchar(100)
)
AS
BEGIN
-- Copyright © 2002 Narayana Vyas Kondreddi. All rights reserved.
-- Purpose: To search all columns of all tables for a given search string
-- Written by: Narayana Vyas Kondreddi
-- Site: http://vyaskn.tripod.com
-- Tested on: SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 2000
-- Date modified: 28th July 2002 22:50 GMT
CREATE TABLE #Results (ColumnName nvarchar(370), ColumnValue nvarchar(3630))
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE @TableName nvarchar(256), @ColumnName nvarchar(128), @SearchStr2 nvarchar(110)
SET @TableName = ''
SET @SearchStr2 = QUOTENAME('%' + @SearchStr + '%','''')
WHILE @TableName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
SET @ColumnName = ''
SET @TableName =
(
SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME))
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'
AND QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME) > @TableName
AND OBJECTPROPERTY(
OBJECT_ID(
QUOTENAME(TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QUOTENAME(TABLE_NAME)
), 'IsMSShipped'
) = 0
)
WHILE (@TableName IS NOT NULL) AND (@ColumnName IS NOT NULL)
BEGIN
SET @ColumnName =
(
SELECT MIN(QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME))
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = PARSENAME(@TableName, 2)
AND TABLE_NAME = PARSENAME(@TableName, 1)
AND QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) > @ColumnName
)
IF @ColumnName IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #Results
EXEC
(
'SELECT ''' + @TableName + '.' + @ColumnName + ''', LEFT(CONVERT(varchar(max), ' + @ColumnName + '), 3630)
FROM ' + @TableName + ' (NOLOCK) ' +
' WHERE CONVERT(varchar(max), ' + @ColumnName + ') LIKE ' + @SearchStr2
)
END
END
END
SELECT ColumnName, ColumnValue FROM #Results
END
If you have phpMyAdmin installed use its Search feature.
Select your DataBase.
Be sure you do have selected DataBase, not a table, otherwise you'll get a completely different search dialog.
- Click Search tab
- List item Choose the search term you want
- Choose the tables to search
For Development purpose you can just export the required tables data into a single HTML and make a direct search on it.
Suppose if you want to get all the table with name a column name contain logintime in the database MyDatabase below is the code sample
use MyDatabase
SELECT t.name AS table_name,
SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id) AS schema_name,
c.name AS column_name
FROM sys.tables AS t
INNER JOIN sys.columns c ON t.OBJECT_ID = c.OBJECT_ID
WHERE c.name LIKE '%logintime%'
ORDER BY schema_name, table_name;
I was looking for a just a numeric value = 6.84 - using the other answers here I was able to limit my search to this
Declare @sourceTable Table(id INT NOT NULL IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, table_name varchar(1000), column_name varchar(1000))
Declare @resultsTable Table(id INT NOT NULL IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, table_name varchar(1000))
Insert into @sourceTable(table_name, column_name)
select schema_name(t.schema_id) + '.' + t.name as[table], c.name as column_name
from sys.columns c
join sys.tables t
on t.object_id = c.object_id
where type_name(user_type_id) in ('decimal', 'numeric', 'smallmoney', 'money', 'float', 'real')
order by[table], c.column_id;
DECLARE db_cursor CURSOR FOR
Select table_name, column_name from @sourceTable
DECLARE @mytablename VARCHAR(1000);
DECLARE @mycolumnname VARCHAR(1000);
OPEN db_cursor;
FETCH NEXT FROM db_cursor INTO @mytablename, @mycolumnname
WHILE @ @FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
Insert into @ResultsTable(table_name)
EXEC('SELECT ''' + @mytablename + '.' + @mycolumnname + ''' FROM ' + @mytablename + ' (NOLOCK) ' +
' WHERE ' + @mycolumnname + '=6.84')
FETCH NEXT FROM db_cursor INTO @mytablename, @mycolumnname
END;
CLOSE db_cursor;
DEALLOCATE db_cursor;
Select Distinct(table_name) from @ResultsTable
There are lots of workable answers already. I just wanted to share one I wrote that has additional functionality.
--=======================================================================
-- MSSQL Unified Search
-- Minimum compatibility level = 130 (SQL Server 2016)
-- NOTE: The minimum compatibility level is required by the built-in STRING_SPLIT() function.
-- However, you can create the STRING_SPLIT() function at the bottom of this script for
-- lower versions of MSSQL Server.
--
-- Usage:
-- Set the parameters below and execute this script.
--
/************************ Enter Parameters Here ************************/
/**/
/**/ DECLARE @SearchString VARCHAR(1000) = 'string to search for'; -- Accepts SQL wilcards
/**/
/**/ DECLARE @IncludeUserTables BIT = 1;
/**/ DECLARE @IncludeViews BIT = 0;
/**/ DECLARE @IncludeStoredProcedures BIT = 0;
/**/ DECLARE @IncludeFunctions BIT = 0;
/**/ DECLARE @IncludeTriggers BIT = 0;
/**/
/**/ DECLARE @DebugMode BIT = 0;
/**/ DECLARE @ExcludeColumnTypes NVARCHAR(500) = 'text, ntext, char, nchar, timestamp, bigint, tinyint, smallint, bit, date, time, smalldatetime, datetime, datetime2, real, money, float, decimal, binary, varbinary, image'; -- Comma delimited list
/**/
/***********************************************************************/
SET NOCOUNT ON;
SET @SearchString = QUOTENAME(@SearchString,'''');
DECLARE @Results TABLE ([ObjectType] NVARCHAR(200), [ObjectName] NVARCHAR(200), [ColumnName] NVARCHAR(400), [Value] NVARCHAR(MAX), [SelectStatement] NVARCHAR(1000));
DECLARE @ExcludeColTypes TABLE (system_type_id INT);
INSERT INTO @ExcludeColTypes ([system_type_id])
SELECT [system_type_id]
FROM sys.types WHERE
[name] IN (
SELECT LTRIM(RTRIM([value])) FROM STRING_SPLIT(@ExcludeColumnTypes,',')
);
DECLARE @ObjectType NVARCHAR(200);
DECLARE @ObjectName NVARCHAR(200);
DECLARE @Value NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE @SelectStatement NVARCHAR(1000);
DECLARE @Query NVARCHAR(4000);
/********************* Table Objects *********************/
IF (@IncludeUserTables = 1)
BEGIN
DECLARE @TableObjectId INT = (SELECT MIN([object_id]) FROM sys.tables);
DECLARE @ColumnId INT;
WHILE @TableObjectId IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
SELECT @ObjectType = 'USER TABLE';
SELECT @ObjectName = '[' + SCHEMA_NAME([schema_id]) + '].[' + OBJECT_NAME(@TableObjectId) + ']' FROM sys.tables WHERE [object_id] = @TableObjectId;
SET @ColumnId = (SELECT MIN([column_id]) FROM sys.columns WHERE [system_type_id] NOT IN (SELECT [system_type_id] FROM @ExcludeColTypes) AND [object_id] = @TableObjectId);
WHILE @ColumnId IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
SELECT @Value = '[' + [name] +']' FROM sys.columns WHERE [object_id] = @TableObjectId AND column_id = @ColumnId;
SET @SelectStatement = 'SELECT * FROM ' + @ObjectName + ' WHERE CAST(' + @Value + ' AS NVARCHAR(4000)) LIKE ' + @SearchString + ';';
SET @Query = 'SELECT '
+ QUOTENAME(@ObjectType, '''')
+ ', ' + QUOTENAME(@ObjectName, '''')
+ ', ' + QUOTENAME(@Value, '''')
+ ', ' + @Value
+ ', ''' + REPLACE(@SelectStatement,'''','''''') + ''''
+ ' FROM ' + @ObjectName
+ ' WHERE CAST(' + @Value + ' AS NVARCHAR(4000)) LIKE ' + @SearchString + ';';
IF @DebugMode = 0
BEGIN
INSERT INTO @Results EXEC(@Query);
END;
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT 'Select Statement: ' + @SelectStatement;
PRINT 'Query: ' + @Query;
END;
SET @ColumnId = (SELECT MIN([column_id]) FROM sys.columns WHERE [system_type_id] NOT IN (SELECT [system_type_id] FROM @ExcludeColTypes) AND [object_id] = @TableObjectId AND [column_id] > @ColumnId);
END;
SET @TableObjectId = (SELECT MIN([object_id]) FROM sys.tables WHERE [object_id] > @TableObjectId);
END;
END;
/********************* Objects Other than Tables *********************/
SET @Query = 'SELECT ' +
'ObjectType = CASE ' +
'WHEN b.[type] = ''V'' THEN ''VIEW'' ' +
'WHEN b.[type] = ''P'' THEN ''STORED PROCEDURE'' ' +
'WHEN b.[type] = ''FN'' THEN ''SCALAR-VALUED FUNCTION'' ' +
'WHEN b.[type] = ''IF'' THEN ''TABLE-VALUED FUNCTION'' ' +
'WHEN b.[type] = ''TR'' THEN ''TRIGGER'' ' +
'END ' +
',[ObjectName] = ''['' + SCHEMA_NAME(b.[schema_id]) + ''].['' + OBJECT_NAME(a.[object_id]) + '']'' ' +
',[ColumnName] = NULL ' +
',[Value] = a.[definition] ' +
',[SelectStatement] = ''SP_HELPTEXT '' + QUOTENAME(''['' + SCHEMA_NAME(b.[schema_id]) + ''].['' + OBJECT_NAME(a.[object_id]) + '']'','''''''') + '';'' ' +
'FROM [sys].[sql_modules] a ' +
'JOIN [sys].[objects] b ON a.[object_id] = b.[object_id] ' +
'WHERE ' +
'( ' +
' a.[definition] LIKE ' + @SearchString +
') ' +
'AND ' +
'( ' +
' ( ' +
CAST(@IncludeViews AS VARCHAR(1)) + ' = 1 ' +
' AND ' +
' b.[type] IN (''V'') ' +
' ) ' +
' OR ' +
' ( ' +
CAST(@IncludeStoredProcedures AS VARCHAR(1)) + ' = 1 ' +
' AND ' +
' b.[type] IN (''P'') ' +
' ) ' +
' OR ' +
' ( ' +
CAST(@IncludeFunctions AS VARCHAR(1)) + ' = 1 ' +
' AND ' +
' b.[type] IN (''FN'',''IF'') ' +
' ) ' +
' OR ' +
' ( ' +
CAST(@IncludeTriggers AS VARCHAR(1)) + ' = 1 ' +
' AND ' +
' b.[type] IN (''TR'') ' +
' ) ' +
'); ';
IF @DebugMode = 0
BEGIN
INSERT INTO @Results EXEC(@Query);
END;
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT 'Select Statement: ' + @SelectStatement;
PRINT 'Query: ' + @Query;
END;
IF @DebugMode = 0
BEGIN
SELECT
[ObjectType]
,[ObjectName]
,[ColumnName]
,[Value]
,[Count] = CASE
WHEN [ObjectType] IN ('USER TABLE') THEN COUNT(1)
ELSE NULL
END
,[SelectStatement]
FROM @Results
GROUP BY [ObjectType], [ObjectName], [ColumnName], [Value], [SelectStatement]
ORDER BY [Value];
END;
/********************** STRING_SPLIT() FUNCTION **********************
CREATE FUNCTION STRING_SPLIT (
@Expression nvarchar(4000)
,@Delimiter nvarchar(100)
)
RETURNS @Ret TABLE ([value] NVARCHAR(4000))
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @Start INT = 0, @End INT, @Length INT;
SELECT @End = CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,@Expression), @Length = @End - @Start;
IF @End <= 0
BEGIN
INSERT INTO @Ret ([value]) VALUES (@Expression);
END
ELSE
BEGIN
WHILE @Length >= 0
BEGIN
INSERT INTO @Ret ([value])
SELECT ltrim(rtrim(substring(@Expression,@Start,@Length)));
SELECT @Start = @End + LEN(@Delimiter)
SELECT @End = CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,@Expression,@Start)
IF @End < 1
SELECT @End = LEN(@Expression) + 1;
SELECT @Length = @End - @Start;
END;
END;
RETURN;
END;
*********************************************************************/
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