Is it possible to select certain elements of the database table? - php

Question

For example: I have a table name tbl_admin and I have so many table elements within that table.
Like (id, fname, lname, contact_info, email, ip, date, status, etc.and so on upto 20 elements).
Now I need to exclude only 3 elements from that table as you can say (fname, lname and contact_info) and select all others. Is this possible by using the mysql query?
Please help me if this is possible. Thanks,

Answer 1

Short Answer
You can't exclude columns explicitly, but you can do so implicitly by selecting only the other columns:
SELECT
ID,
EMAIL,
IP,
DATE,
STATUS
FROM tbl_admin
Long Answer
It turns out I was wrong with the short answer, technically there is a way as illustrated with the question here.
To do this in PHP, I'd recommend creating a view in the MySQL database that would encapsulate the SQL. Then you would just select * from that view.
Alternatively, you could create a stored procedure, and pass in the names of the columns that you want to be filtered out.

Answer 2

Try:
$result = mysql_query("SHOW COLUMNS FROM tbl_admin");
if (mysql_num_rows($result) > 0) {
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
$columns[] = $row['Field'];
}
}
//fill all columns here that you want to exclude
$columns_to_exclude = array('fname','lname','contact_info');
$sql = "SELECT (";
foreach($columns as $ind=>$val){
if(!in_array($val,$columns_to_exclude))
{
$sql .= $val.", ";
}
}
$sql = rtrim($sql,", ");
$sql .= ") FROM tbl_admin;";
echo $sql;

Answer 3

Select fname,sname,contact from table_admin

Answer 4

Yes, so you will have something like this:
SELECT
id,
fname,
lanem
FROM
tbl_admin
You just need to specify what are those and in what order. Instead of using the * to fetch all records (columns) in its default order.
Edit
SET #sql = CONCAT('SELECT ', (SELECT REPLACE(GROUP_CONCAT(COLUMN_NAME), '<columns_to_omit>,', '') FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_NAME = '<table>' AND TABLE_SCHEMA = '<database>'), ' FROM <table>');
PREPARE stmt1 FROM #sql;
EXECUTE stmt1;
Actually, I just got it from another's posts so all credits goes to him. HERE

Answer 5

Latest Answer
ANSWER BY Mahomedalid in Select all columns except one in MySQL?
SET #sql = CONCAT('SELECT ', (SELECT REPLACE(GROUP_CONCAT(COLUMN_NAME), '<columns_to_omit>,', '') FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_NAME = '<table>' AND TABLE_SCHEMA = '<database>'), ' FROM <table>');
PREPARE stmt1 FROM #sql;
EXECUTE stmt1;
For your situation replace the <columns_to_omit> with fname,lname,contact_info
Old Answer
Syntax for retrieving particular column values from table is
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
All columns can be retrieved using SELECT * instead of SELECT column_name(s)
if you are directing your question towards a particular language like PHP then the syntax can be like this
<?php
$con=mysqli_connect("localhost","username","password","database");
// Check connection
if (mysqli_connect_errno())
{
echo "Failed to connect to MySQL: " . mysqli_connect_error();
}
$result = mysqli_query($con,"SELECT fname,lname,contact_info FROM tbl_admin");?>