mysql query to Identify which sql table column contains given string

Question

Given:

TABLE : columns(column1(primary key),column2,column3)

column1        column2       column3
1920           abc           def
1930           xyz           hji
1940           def           abc

Now, how to find column_name among column2 or column3 if we are given with a string in those columns?

For eg:we will be always given column 1 value i.e 1920; Some string from column 2 or column3 will be given too for eg: abc. So, we need to identify in 1920 "abc" was in column1 or column2 via mysql query.

no both the columns will not contain same string i.e in 1920; column2 and column3 will contain different values — Nikita Gupta, Oct 31 '16 at 22:54
You should consider doing this in your application code (by maintaining a dictionary kind data structure Or even in XML) rather in DB — Rahul, Oct 31 '16 at 23:34

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-31T23:26:58.423

0

You can use CASE

SELECT CASE WHEN column2 = 'abc' THEN 'column2'
            WHEN column3 = 'abc' THEN 'column3'
       END AS which_column
FROM yourTable
WHERE column1 = 1920

DEMO

edited Oct 31 '16 at 23:26

answered Oct 31 '16 at 23:01

Barmar

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its not giving any output – Nikita Gupta Oct 31 '16 at 23:24
@NikitaGupta I added a sqlfiddle demo that shows it works. – Barmar Oct 31 '16 at 23:27

mysql query to Identify which sql table column contains given string

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